2022
Naturevolution is a nature conservation and international solidarity association that has been working since 2009 to conserve biodiversity and endangered natural habitats, and to promote the development of the communities that depend on them. Working in partnership with local stakeholders, the association provides social aid (education, health, food, waste management), economic aid (ecotourism, agroforestry, beekeeping) and environmental aid (biodiversity conservation, awareness-raising, research). The association works specifically in Madagascar and Indonesia, and also conducts awareness-raising campaigns throughout France, offering films, conferences and exhibitions to the general public.
Naturevolution has been present in the Makay region since the association was founded, and has helped to make the region a protected area since 2017. Increasingly affected by episodes of drought and famine, more and more groups of villagers are leaving towns to settle in the region, in search of farmland, thereby contributing to the deforestation of the Makay forests and an increase in poaching. In this context, to ensure the preservation of this area and the food security of its inhabitants, Naturevolution is working alongside local populations to improve both their living conditions and their environment in the long term.
In 2021, the association appealed to the Bel Foundation to finance the programme “Graines de Changement“. The aim of this project is to alleviate periods of food insecurity by setting up school canteens. Local communities are being trained in new agro-ecology techniques through the creation of rice paddies and “school vegetable gardens”. Community granaries have also been set up to guarantee rice stocks throughout the year. Within the schools, the children benefit from the harvests from the vegetable and rice gardens, helping to promote their education and development.
To ensure the effectiveness of the efforts undertaken, Naturevolution is now entering a phase of perpetuation and awareness-raising. The Foundation’s support in 2022 will provide the means to set up a sixth school canteen and enhance the agro-ecology skills of the communities in the project’s six villages.
What are the project’s expected results?
In total, over 700 schoolchildren living in the Makay will have access to one meal per day throughout the school year.
