Ma Honko: 220 hectares restored in the first quarter

Ma Honko: 220 hectares restored in the first quarter

Ma Honko is a project that aims to restore 40,000 hectares of degraded mangrove areas in four regions of Madagascar, namely Diana, Sofia, Melaky and Boeny. The project is based on the planting of native species, in collaboration with local communities.

In Madagascar, the area of mangroves is estimated at 390,000 hectares in 2019 and is considered to be one of the largest mangrove ecosystems in the Indian Ocean. However, between 1995 and 2018, the country lost between 3,000 and 7,000 hectares of mangroves per year.

To date, since the launch of the project in 2023, more than 1,800 hectares of degraded areas have already been restored. For the 2025-2026 campaign, which runs from January to December, the objective is to restore an additional 1,740 hectares, or about 11 million mangroves to be planted (average planting density 6,400 plants per hectare). In addition, 3.8 million young plants are produced in nurseries and ready to be transplanted. Over the period from January to March, restoration activities covered 220 hectares.

Of the eight mangrove species inventoried in Madagascar, the project plans to plant six species. Four of them have been planted so far.

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As close as possible to local needs

Ma Honko's activities benefit the local community on site, in particular by generating them an additional source of income (the Landibe project).

Between January and March 2026, Ma Honko directly benefited 139 people through its community engagement actions. In 2025, Ma Honko had 2,404 beneficiaries (55% of whom were women). They are planters, nurserymen or even monitoring agents. In addition, 265 solar street lights have been installed in the villages concerned, spread over 23 municipalities.

In addition, each intervention is preceded by a public consultation bringing together various stakeholders. No project can be done without the approval of the local community and the competent authority. The project gradually mobilizes local actors through letters of support from mayors, then implements the installation of nurseries and planting monitoring, while conducting patrols and awareness-raising among communities.

Also under the Ma Honko project, seventeen volunteer patrol officers, members of the communities, were trained to monitor possible violations in the forest. A training course on community life and the development of annual business plans was also organized in February for a women's association in the Sofia region.

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