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Madagascar The Phoenix Conservancy 5.000 2023

Fire is the enemy of rainforests worldwide, perhaps nowhere more so than in Madagascar. In Ivohiboro Special Protected Area, The Phoenix Conservancy is working to reverse deforestation from annual wildfires, using an innovative restoration technique designed to repel fires while accelerating reforestation. Dubbed “Foxhole Forests”, this hybrid restoration method combines elements of nucleation, muvuca, bunding, and wildlands firefighting to create fire-protected islands of young forest that make the most of seasonal monsoon rains.

To create a Foxhole Forest, a ring firebreak approximately 2 m wide and 10 m in diameter is constructed by removing all organic material down to mineral soil. Removed material is piled up and buried on the downslope side, creating a water-retaining bund that also provides a vertical fire barrier. In the protected center, large volumes of seed from fast-growing pioneer trees and shrubs are planted, which rapidly create a sheltered microclimate ideal for other forest seedlings. In this way, each Foxhole Forest becomes the center of a new forest, capable of maintaining a cool, moist understory that repels wildfire from the main forest body.

A unique population of ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) shares this isolated island of montane rainforest with up to 4 other lemur species, and their survival depends on increasing available forest habitat as quickly as possible. In fact, lemurs are a central to Ivohiboro’s restoration; high-value food species for lemurs are planted in every Foxhole Forest, encouraging lemurs to visit, take advantage of new food resources, and deposit seeds from the main forest in ideal growing conditions. Thanks in part to funding by the DierenPark Amersfoort Wildlife Fund, The Phoenix Conservancy will be constructing thousands of Foxhole Forests in the coming years, creating thousands of local restoration jobs while securing a future for Ivohiboro’s lemurs and irreplaceable biodiversity.

Do you want to help protect this area and support this project? Support DierenPark Amersfoort Wildlife Fund!

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