Zazamalala Foundation

First there was Zazamalala forest. In 2000, Simon Rietveld and Jocelyne Farazanamalala bought a thorny shrubland in the Morondava area in Western Madagascar which they called ‘Zazamalala’ meaning lovely child. They protected the area, allowed saplings to grow into trees and replanted diverse endemic tree species. Nowadays, Zazamalala is a beautiful dry forest with many endemic plants and animals. Moreover, it is the only forest remaining in the area as all land was brought under cultivation by the growing population. Zazamalala Foundation was founded in 2019 to protect the forest and to secure its existence in future. The foundation manages the forest and actively aims to expand it by buying degraded lands in the vicinity and connect these to Zazamalala forest. The ultimate goal is to link a vast Zazamalala forest to forests in the North-West, Andanomena, Marofandilia and Kirindy, via a corridor. Our mission is to restore and protect dry forest ecosystems in Western Madagascar; providing safe havens for wildlife and biodiversity and to provide viable livelihoods in forestry and tourism for people living next to the forest.