Malagasy Grasslands for Maintaining and Enhancing Environment (GCBC TANETI)

Appropriate site selection is key to successful tree planting, ensuring cost effectiveness while avoiding harm to ecosystems and vulnerable livelihoods. Madagascar has committed to an ambitious reforestation goal of 40,000 hectares per year targeting open and mosaic ecosystems, while not always having access to the full knowledge required for a thorough assessment of their biodiversity value and the economic contribution of pastures.

Though often associated with human-driven disturbance, Madagascar’s grassy ecosystems are home to ancient and endemic plant lineages, provide grazing resources, and store significant amount of carbon belowground. Replacing them with forests could harm not only the biodiversity they harbour but also the livelihoods of marginalized communities that rely heavily on them for their survival.

Overlooked by those focusing on trees and forests, there is a gap in our knowledge of grasses and grasslands, which has historically led to the misinterpretation of them as secondary formation. This project seeks to address this gap through a multidisciplinary approach. Taxonomy and ecology legacy data and expertise is used to define the extent, occupancy, and diversity of open ecosystems. Soil science aims to assess carbon storage potential across different ecosystem typologies, and to understand the relationships between tree planting success and soil carbon storage.

Socio-ecological approach is used to evaluate societal factors influencing reforestation outcomes. A multidisciplinary collaborative co-creation approach has been adopted with stakeholders including government agencies and local protected area managers in order to review policy and support its development. All data will be used to develop a support tool aiding the identification of the most beneficial sites for future reforestation efforts in Madagascar.

This project aims to support successful reforestation, contributing to global climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation efforts, and to support open and mosaic ecosystems conservation.