• Government in talks with Arial Metrics to test drone-based aerial seeding

• Planned technical partnership aims to launch trials in the next reforestation season

• Country faces a sharp drop in forest cover, losing 11% in the past decade

Madagascar’s Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development is in discussions with the local company Arial Metrics, which provides innovative drone-based solutions across several sectors.

In a Nov. 28 statement, the ministry said the goal of the meeting was to develop a partnership to test aerial seeding by drone in order to speed up the restoration of degraded forests, especially in areas that are difficult to access.

The next stage of discussions will focus on signing a “technical partnership” to launch the first trials of drone-assisted reforestation during the upcoming planting season. According to local outlet 2424.mg, the country successfully carried out a pilot drone-seeding test in 2021 to plant mangroves in the Boeny region.

It remains to be seen whether that success can be replicated for large-scale forest restoration. The challenge is significant, as deforestation continues to worsen. In its latest Global Forest Resources Assessment released in October, the FAO reported that Madagascar lost 11% of its forest cover over the past decade. The island’s forest area fell from 11.1 million hectares in 2015 to 9.9 million in 2025.

Under the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative (AFR100), launched in 2015, Madagascar has committed to restoring 4 million hectares of forests and farmland by 2030. Official data show that 1.5 million hectares were under restoration in 2023, or less than 40% of the target. Reforestation campaigns in Madagascar usually begin in November and last five months.

Stéphanas Assocle