Earth Raise 2026 will close at 12pm tomorrow, Wednesday 29th April. The good news is that thanks to so many of your kindness and generosity, we have, at time of writing (2.32pm, UK time, Tuesday 28th April 2026), already raised 97 per cent of our target.
This means we need to raise £859, which will be doubled by our pledgers and champion funders to £1,718, to reach our £60,000 target.
To all of you who have already donated, THANK YOU.
Your kind donations, doubled in value, will empower Malagasy men, women and children to improve their lives and ensure they need not suffer hunger and health complications, and help protect and expand the vital Malagasy forests and wilderness.
As we are so close to our £60,000 target, that if you are reading this and do intend to donate – if you can – or if you know someone with whom you can share this message who would like their donation to have double the impact and be doubled in value, there is still time to do so.
Please do, before 12pm UK time, tomorrow, Wednesday 29th April 2026.
The £60,000 we have targeted will deliver better lives for Malagasy communities, and heal and grow the Malagasy wilderness upon which we all rely. It will impact people’s lives, and the environment we share and need.
That is how your donation will have double the impact.
Our Resilient Forests and Livelihoods portfolio manager Christiane Randrianarisoa, explains what your donation will deliver:
‘Resilient Forests and Livelihoods is about one simple but urgent reality: forests and people cannot thrive separately.
‘We work with Malagasy communities, partners, and local organisations to understand their realities, priorities, and knowledge.
‘From there, solutions are co-developed and locally led. We support practices like Dynamic Agroforestry (DAF) and climate-smart agriculture, which respond directly to the challenges communities face by restoring soil fertility, increasing productivity, diversifying income and reducing risk. They also integrate trees into farming systems, reducing pressure on natural forests.
‘They make it possible for people to improve their livelihoods without degrading the ecosystems they depend on.
‘And we work with Malagasy communities to directly protect and grow the forests and wilderness, making these recognised as assets to be sustained, not resources to be depleted.’
In this way, your donation will help deliver a platform – equipment, training and seed funding – upon which Malagasy men, women and children can improve their lives and livelihoods, and protect and expand the wilderness upon which we all rely.
Ninety per cent of species here in Madagascar are found only here. We are also one of only four ‘carbon sinks’ – areas absorbing more carbon from the atmosphere than they emit – on Earth. We are one of the world’s last remaining ‘brakes’ slowing the runaway climate catastrophe.
But we are losing our wilderness. If deforestation continues as it is, the Malagasy forests will be gone before 2065.
One reason is poverty.
More than 90 per cent of Malagasy men, women and children live on or below the global poverty baseline, most report missing at least one meal per day, and nearly 50 per cent of children here suffer stunting caused by malnutrition. This hunger and urgent need drive people to remove trees to create land to grow more food.
This vicious cycle can be ended, but only if we act to reduce poverty and protect Madagascar’s wild spaces. That’s what our Earth Raise campaign is for.
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 Tsinjaorivo, in Western Central Madagascar, we and our partner Sadabe provide training, equipment and assistance in animal farming, among other activities.
We have also worked to train community members like Vincent Razafinahatratra, in protecting and expanding Madagascar’s forests.
Vincent said: ‘I used to cut down trees for money through charcoal and to free more land. Instead, I trained as a trainer in environmental protection. It was an opportunity for me and for the community because we are all doing better through protecting our environment.
‘In the past, the trees were more dense and remained largely untouched by fire. But in recent years, we saw that fires occurred more often and the water level decreases, harming crops, and there are no rice seedlings.
‘Most of the people living around this forest relied on logging and slash and burn agriculture. I was one of them, but thanks to my training, I’m planting olive trees, which are good parts of a healthy forest and provide food and other products for sale for us all.’
With Mitsinjo, we work with Malagasy people through GECs – savings and loans groups – and to provide agricultural training, equipment and seeds through dynamic agro-forestry (DAF).
Justine Raharilala explained: ‘The GEC started with some small amount of money and the community increased it by joining and paying a subscription. That began at 500 Ariary each, but our success so far means we will now each be able to pay in 5,000 Ariary, meaning the group will have lots more money.
‘We provide loans for members who have a new idea, a development or an improvement, empowering them to invest and succeed, and because sometimes people need some extra help if there’s something unforeseen, an emergency.
‘It’s a common fund and we are all doing better as a result of being part of it.
‘The DAF training has also helped. All of us have always worked so hard, but we never really had enough. Most people were hungry at least some of the time, and few of us ever had money when we needed it. But since the training, our area is flourishing: there are pineapples, fruit trees, vegetables and perennial plants. We have created a vibrant, sustainable landscape and we are all creating enough for what we need.’
Our initiatives and our activities work. But there is much more which must be done.
If you have donated, thank you so much again. If you have not, there is still time.
We are so close to our target, and your donation will have double the impact and be doubled in value from now until 12pm on Wednesday 29th April.
The slogan marking our 40th 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.
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Our Resilient Forests and Livelihoods portfolio manager Christiane Randrianarisoa, explains what your donation will deliver:
