Fire Wood for Cooking.

When Simon Rietveld returned to his wifes native land in Madagasca, The 30 year interval was not kind to the native dry forest and most of it had been cleared.
Knowing something must be done to halt and turn around the clearing Simon and his wife Jocelyne, purchased a patch of thorny scrubland – named it Zazamalala (meaning lovely child) and began the journey to protect, educate and engage the local community.
An option to protect, nurture and expand rather than clear and hope.
In the year 2000 the Zazamalala forest started its journey to expand this small patch of remaining dry forest.
The years immediately following, saw an influx of farmers clearing land to growing rice and corn. This was unsustainable as the crops were not endemic and soon there was not enough water to sustain any of the cleared land, so these vast areas are abandoned – left fallow and for a significant part without topsoil.
Move forward 19 years and Simon and Jocelyn have planted thousands of native seedlings on the verge of extinction in their patch, with so much attention, these species began to flourish in this much loved forest.

The native tradition of hunting for meat and cutting trees to cook with is what the Sakalava tribe living in the Zazamalala area had always done.
After a 10-year struggle, (including the death of a forest guard) the local traditional community is coming to realise the forest has a significant place in their lives.  The Zazamalala research and recordings proving that in the forested area, rainfall was significantly increased compared to the surrounding cleared areas.
This in turn allows them to product more food.  More rainfall = more food.

With a few million people in Madagascar preparing two hot meals a day – if they have any food.  Almost all of those meals are prepared using fire wood and charcoal. All cut down from the forest with need far outweighing regrowth.

To this end, one of the projects undertaken by this dedicated family, includes tribal mothers working in the forest nursery.
This provides not only a financial incentive – but they each earn a “SOLAR COOKER” which in itself is brilliant in its simplicity and far reaching effects.