Contributing to the preservation and sustainable management of Tapia’s natural forests

Project TAPIA – Madagascar

On deployment

Madagascar’s Itasy region covers an area of 7,000 km², of which less than 3% is currently forested.

The Tapia forest, which is one of the Great Island’s endemic and remarkable ecosystems, plays a key ecological role here, preserving water sources, stabilising watersheds, protecting soils against erosion and maintaining their fertility, and regulating the local microclimate. It is also home to an abundance of biodiversity and provides resources on which local communities are heavily dependent. In particular, the Tapia is the main habitat of an endemic species of wild silkworm – the landibe – which feeds mainly on its leaves. The landibe forms cocoons of wild silk, which are traditionally used to make handicraft textiles (clothes, scarves, shrouds, festive garments, etc.).

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In the Itasy region, the forests of Tapia (an endemic tree) provide resources on which the local grassroots communities (also known as VOI – Vondron’Olona Ifotony), to whom the Malagasy state has delegated management, depend heavily. In particular, this ecosystem is home to an endemic species of wild silkworm, whose silk cocoons are traditionally used to make handicraft textiles.