MADAGASCAR – ANDRAFIABE (NOSY-BE) – YLANG YLANG 1 May 2017

Ylang-Ylang and biodiversity on the island of Nosy-Be. Andrafiabe, a model of community eco-development.

Even though its surface area is limited by the surrounding waters, the island of Nosy-Be is the only place in the world where you can find the tiny pygmy frog (Stumpffia pygmaea) which is one of the smallest vertebrates in the world. Here you can also find the three-coloured Heteraxilus as well as four other unique species of reptiles: Lygodactylus h. heterurus, Mabuya lavarambo, Lycodryas granuliceps and Typhlops reuteri. It is particularly important to scientists that these species be preserved as they may be able to help in the understanding of the general historical distribution of species as well as the criteria that quicken their extinction.

The forests have a hard time holding onto the earth of this little sloping volcanic island. And as soon as the forests disappear, erosion happens quickly and takes with it any fertility that was to be found in the soil. In addition, the alluviums fall into the sea and dramatically destroy the coral reefs which are a real nursery for 70% of the fish that feed the human race.

Aside from tourism, the Ylang Ylang plantation is one of the principal sources of income in Nosy-Be. As soon as the extremely poor local populations receive a tiny bit of income, they plant Ylang Ylang or extend their plot of land. Ylang Ylang is a tree of which the flowers are used in the production of essential oil, and trees are notably durable as far as plants go. There is, therefore, a clear and simple way in which to drastically reduce the natural habitat destruction: help the development of a sustainable cultivation of these trees on the damaged land, otherwise allowed to lie fallow.

From the 1990s, Olivier Behra has helped to finance a consequential project led by the biologist Franco Andreone on the island’s herpetological diversity (Andreone et al, 2003. The amphibians and reptiles of Nosy Be (NW Madagascar) and nearby islands: a case study of diversity and conservation of an insular fauna. Journal of Natural History, 2003, 37, 17, 2119–2149). He also founded the social and sustainable company Aroma Forest of which one of the export products is the Ylang Ylang essential oil.

An analysis of the land allowed for the identification of several crucial zones in which supporting the local populations would allow their destructive practices to be transformed into those that would help develop agroforestry techniques designed to conserve biodiversity. The research has indeed shown that the conservation of certain microstrips of forest running along the edge of the plantations would, in turn, ensure the conservation of the local biological diversity.

We are, therefore, committed to supporting the work of Aroma Forest in their mission to produce a Ylang Ylang essential oil that is truly fair-trade and that will finally support the conservation of the local environment, including that of the corals which are essential to keeping the oceans alive.