FAQ

How do I know when my trees have been planted?

Trees will be planted within 14-30 days after the end of the month.  Planting cycles vary based on weather conditions and the number of trees being planted.  Ecodrive will send a final confirmation once the local planters in Madagascar have confirmed all trees have been planted.

Is the land planted on public or privately owned? For how long is the land protected and under what agreement?

In Madagascar, the land is almost always owned by the tribal community, but we also work within federally owned national forests.

Are the trees planted from seeds or saplings?

In Madagascar, the mangroves forests are planted directly from propagules.

Where do you purchase the seed/saplings from?

The overwhelming percentage of our seeds are collected by local villagers that travel into nearby remnant forests to collect native species tree seeds. Additional seeds can also be purchased from local, trusted seed banks if required to supplement collected seeds. We never purchase seedlings, but rather grow our own in our nurseries to ensure quality and germination rates.

 

What is the survival rate?

Mangrove Restoration Systems: In Madagascar, the initial survival rate at our mangrove restoration projects exceeds 80%. However, between years three and five the young mangrove trees begin to produce their own propagules (baby mangrove trees) resulting in a proliferation of natural regeneration. Multiple studies demonstrate the initial survival rate combined with natural regeneration results in a luxuriant impact ranging between 150 and 500 percent.

How do you track the number of trees you have successfully planted? How often do you adjust those numbers for trees that have died?

Our planting team leaders have developed reliable systems which count and sort the number of seedlings produced in the nurseries and or mangrove propagules collected. We then plant the seedlings and prorogues within designated sites.

A percentage of seedling and propagule mortality is of course inevitable. What we have discovered is mortality becomes irrelevant as natural regeneration begins to occur and begins to multiply impact. At our mangrove sites, natural regeneration typically exceeds 200% of the original number planted. Nature finds a way whenever humans cooperate.