(English) DAF and Defending the Environment

Mae’n ddrwg gen i, mae’r cofnod hwn dim ond ar gael mewn English.

Restore Forests, Renew Futures in Madagascar 

Double Your Impact with Earth Raise 2026 

Wednesday 22^nd – Wednesday 29^th April 2026 

Money for Madagascar’s Earth Raise 2026 fundraising week begins at 12pm (UK time) on Wednesday 22^nd April 2026.

From that moment, until 12pm on Wednesday 29^th April, we are raising money to provide the platform – equipment, training and seed funding – upon which Malagasy men, women and children can improve their lives and livelihoods, and protect and expand the vital, vibrant wilderness upon which we all rely.

We can only achieve our target – £60,000 – with your help.

And in this week, every donation made through our Earth Raise 2026 web-page (the links to which will be provided in my next e-mail, and on every Earth Raise 2026 post on Money for Madagascar’s website from Wednesday morning) will not only have double the impact, but will also be doubled in value: every £40 you donate will deliver £80 to Malagasy men, women and children, and the Malagasy wilderness.

This initiative is vital.

Madagascar is one of the world’s most beautiful, and remarkable, places on Earth. It is a critical biodiversity hotspot. Ninety per cent of its species are found nowhere else on Earth.

And it is one of only four ‘carbon sinks’ – regions which absorb more carbon from the atmosphere than they emit – on Earth, making it one of the world’s last remaining counters to the runaway climate catastrophe increasing temperatures, raising sea-levels and causing crop failure.

But Madagascar is also losing its wilderness. If deforestation continues as it is, its forests will be gone before 2065.

Some of this is driven by poverty. More than 90 per cent of Malagasy men, women and children live on or below the global poverty baseline, and most report missing at least one meal per day. Urgent need drives many to remove trees to create land to grow more food.

This vicious cycle can only be ended if we take action: to reduce poverty and protect Madagascar’s wild spaces.

We will use what you generously donate to:

• train Malagasy people in dynamic agro-forestry (DAF), so they can restore degraded land, increase crop yields, and reduce the need for forest clearance

• restore wild land and reforest, recreating spaces for Malagasy plants and animals to thrive

• strengthen community conservation leadership, improve environmental protection and stewardship, and improve livelihoods and incomes

We are already doing this. In Andasibe community, Madagascar, we are working with our partner Mitsinjo, and have reduced forest degradation to 20 per cent.

We are helping Malagasy communities abandon slash and burn agriculture in favour of sustainable methods, particularly DAF.

Zed Marline Tolojanahary has begun DAF after training with us. It has already changed her life and, she says, has given her new hope for the future.

She explained: ‘Before, using traditional methods, I could not grow enough food. My family did not have enough to eat, and we had no money to spare even after getting too little food. 

‘DAF taught me to make compost from worms in soil and organic material, to regularly turn my soil and to plant diverse crops on the same land, all of which has made the soil healthier and more fertile. It showed me I did not need more land, I just needed to use what I had in a different way. 

‘This year, using DAF methods, my beans and vegetable production has really improved. 

‘We have more to eat, we have more we can sell, and because we can also buy less, we are starting to set money aside so we have some for emergencies, and hopefully for some small things we want, and have previously not been able to afford.’

What we are doing, thanks to your support and kindness, and the hard work and initiative of Malagasy people, is working. But there is so much more which must be done.

Your donation will have double the impact by helping us continue our work uniting conservation and development, and will be doubled in value from Wednesday 22^nd-Wednesday 29^th April only – will enable us to do it.

The slogan marking our 40^th anniversary this year, is ‘Hazo tokana tsy mba ala, Ny firaisakina no hery: One tree does not make a forest – Together we are stronger.’

With Earth Raise 2026, we will stand together, and build stronger forests.

Please share this message with friends, family and colleagues and if you can, join us on Wednesday for Earth Raise 2026.

Earth Raise 2026

Earth Raise 2026: what we will do

Reaping the fruits of the forest – DAF with MfM

Land, Lives and Livelihoods: DAF and MfM

Forests and Food

Earth Raise 2026: FAQs and how to donate