Madagascar's natural forests are threatened by rising fuelwood consumption. Along with the irreversible ecosystem loss considerable CO2 emissions result from illegal logging. The establishment of wood energy plantations and their sustainable use has not only mitigated

the exploitation of natural forests but also contributed to the decline of rural poverty, by way of sustainable coal production. Central to the success was the concept of voluntary user groups to receive land titles from their local forest authorities, subject to joint

afforestation on state-owned lands.This appraoch, called "individual community

afforestation (RVI)" turned strikingly successful. It was co-developed by ECO Consult and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale

Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), together with the Madagascar‘s Ministry of Environment and Forests (MEF). The brochure provides data on impact, reveals lessons and explains success factors.