Backing long-term conservation in Mangabe Reserve with Chester Zoo

Around 90% of Madagascar’s species are found nowhere else on Earth.

However, many of those habitats are under increasing pressure. Protecting them takes long-term planning and consistent work by local organisations to support conservation properly.

That’s why we’ve partnered with Chester Zoo and Madagasikara Voakajy to support community-led restoration work in the Mangabe Reserve in Madagascar.

Through this partnership, we’re helping support practical conservation work that also creates more sustainable livelihoods for local communities.

Understanding the challenges facing Mangabe is an important part of understanding why this work matters.

The difficulties of conservation in Madagascar

Mangabe is not a protected site in the pristine, untouched sense that people often imagine.

It is a living landscape, where farming, forestry and daily reliance on natural resources shape what conservation can realistically achieve. The Mangabe Reserve covers 27,346 hectares and was established in 2015; since then, more than 6,000 hectares of forest have been lost, largely through slash-and-burn agriculture alongside timber extraction for wood and charcoal.

Madagasikara Voakajy is working to reverse that loss with the communities who know the landscape best. Through community plant nurseries, local employment, habitat restoration and more sustainable land-use practices, their work helps reduce pressure on the forest while protecting the wildlife that depends on it. Recent funding has supported two nurseries across ten villages, helping restore degraded land while creating income for local people.

Sustaining this work takes reliable, long-term funding, which is where we hope to play a part.

A contribution that keeps restoration moving

We’ve committed £10,000 to conservation work in the Mangabe Reserve in Madagascar.

The funding supports the running cost of two plant nurseries, which includes tools, equipment, infrastructure and staffing costs. It also contributes directly to restoring 20 hectares of land across the reserve, split between natural forest and agroforestry.

This is one practical part of a much wider programme of work. Chester Zoo has worked in partnership with Madagasikara Voakajy for almost 15 years, supporting conservation in Madagascar and helping to establish Mangabe Reserve as a protected area.

Our support includes:

Habitat restoration

Nursery support

Species-saving research

Community engagement

Forest protection

Supporting local livelihoods

Madagasikara Voakajy lead the everyday delivery of conservation work in Mangabe, working directly with communities who live in and around the reserve to manage restoration and conservation work in practice.

How TG became part of Mangabe’s story

The partnership first came together after Dale Mortiboys, Jon Berry and Natalie Collins attended an event hosted by Chester Zoo and Madagasikara Voakajy.

What they heard that day made a real impression. Here was conservation work with urgency and lasting value; work rooted in local communities and a shared belief that restoring nature must go hand in hand with supporting people. It felt closely aligned with our sustainability vision and the kind of impact we want to stand behind.

The focus of our partnership is the Mangabe Reserve in Madagascar, where local teams are restoring degraded forest and protecting the wildlife that depends on it. Their work is closely tied to the communities living around the reserve, who are central to making conservation last.

We support that work through funding, helping keep the plant nurseries running so restoration can continue in a practical, long-term way.

We also look for opportunities to get involved more directly where we can, including time spent volunteering at Chester Zoo alongside the Madagasikara Voakajy team. On a recent visit, the Tyler Grange team spent the day supporting the zoo by helping process willow for animal feed.

Why this matters so much to us

This partnership aligns closely with our B Corp commitment to put people and planet at the heart of our work, not just in the UK, but in the places where biodiversity is under threat.

It also links to our involvement in Myllium, where the focus is on recognising nature as the system everything depends on, and backing work that supports this.

The work continues in Mangabe

We’re incredibly proud to be part of this partnership alongside Chester Zoo and Madagasikara Voakajy.

The work happening in Mangabe is already making a difference to the landscape and the communities connected to it, and we’re thrilled to be able to support that through this partnership.

We’ll continue staying involved as the work continues, and we’ll share updates as the partnership progresses.

For more information, see the press release.

If you’d like to talk about how sustainability and conservation can be approached in a long-term way, get in touch with our team.

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