In 2012, the Arbor Day Foundation started working with Dr. Ed Louis of the Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium on the Madagascar Biodiversity Partnership (MBP) to plant trees in Madagascar where as much as 80 percent of the country’s forests have disappeared. The loss of forest cover has had a great impact on the people and the wildlife in surrounding communities.

Madagascar is home to many rare and endangered species, including the lemur. As forests are cleared out, wildlife habitat start to disappear. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, lemurs are the most threatened group of mammals in the world. In fact, 73 percent of all lemur species are listed as endangered or critically endangered. The goal of this Rain Forest Rescue project is to restore rain forests and habitat on the African island nation of Madagascar.

Updates from our Partners on the Ground

The impact of the reforestation efforts is remarkable. We are thrilled to announce we have now planted more than 2 million trees to replenish widespread deforestation. Newly planted trees have created corridors of rain forest that connect mountaintops. Trees have been planted in areas where plantings were completed just two or three years ago. Those trees have grown rapidly and can now help to shelter the next round of newly planted seedlings — allowing a thicker canopy to develop more quickly.

This new forest cover has increased the diminishing black and white ruffed lemur population. In 2009 there were only eight black and white ruffed lemurs left on the whole island, now there are more than 50.

Read: How Well Do You Know Rain Forests [QUIZ]

In addition to this milestone of planting 2 million trees, the reforestation project has experienced tremendous growth. This year, we have opened two new nurseries, making a total of 20 fully functional tree nurseries that provide meaningful, sustainable jobs for thousands of community residents, particularly women.

Each nursery has a staff to tend the young trees — grown from seed onsite — until they’re ready to be planted in the rain forest. And when looking at the project as a whole, anywhere from 40 to 60 percent of working Malagasies in the area directly benefit by collaborating with the Madagascar Biodiversity Partnership in some capacity.

The site of the first tree nursery established in the Kianjavato region of Madagascar as part of this reforestation project. The trees surrounding the nursery were all planted by nursery staff.

By nurturing trees in the nursery and planting them in the field, locals have learned more about sustainability and the importance of conservation. Nursery staff have helped spread sustainable practices into their own communities. It is incredible to see the impact of a reforestation project like this by involving the people who live there. Residents have embraced these new trees and three communities have even held Arbor Day celebrations this year.

New Discoveries

Madagascar is home to lemur species found only on the island. By improving habitat connectivity for lemurs, we’re protecting — and growing — the species population of the black and white ruffed lemur. In the act of protecting this endangered species, Dr. Louis and his team are discovering new lemur species. Earlier this year, official findings were released regarding the Groves’ Dwarf Lemur Lemur (Cheirogaleus grovesi) – a nocturnal primate smaller than a common tree squirrel that the team encountered the forests of southeast Madagascar between Ranomafana World Heritage Site and National Park and Andringitra National Park. This is the 24th new species discovered through Dr. Louis’s work in Madagascar, beginning in 2006.

Read: Our Trees in Madagascar are Saving the Lemurs

With momentum like this to build on, the work continues to build Madagascar’s rain forest canopy. We are proud of this project and the difference it is making for wildlife, for the Malagasy people, and the planet.