New commitment will support Madagascar’s efforts to protect its extraordinary biodiversity and advance progress toward conserving 30% of its lands and waters by 2030

NEW YORK, September 21, 2026 — Rainforest Trust announced a $10 million commitment to conservation in Madagascar during Climate Week NYC, providing new funding to help protect some of the world’s most irreplaceable biodiversity while supporting Madagascar’s ambitious conservation goals.

The commitment was announced at the Regional Biodiversity and Finance Roundtable: Accelerating 30×30 in the Western Indian Ocean on September 21, 2026, alongside leaders from Madagascar, conservation organizations, funders, and other partners working to accelerate progress toward the global goal of protecting 30% of the planet by 2030.

Madagascar is one of the most biologically unique places on Earth, with the vast majority of its plants and animals found nowhere else. Its forests are home to lemurs, chameleons, frogs, and thousands of other endemic species, including many that remain unknown to science. But these ecosystems continue to face intense pressure from deforestation, habitat degradation, and other threats.

“Madagascar is a global conservation priority, and this is a moment when ambitious investment can translate into extraordinary, lasting impact,” said James Deutsch, CEO of Rainforest Trust.

“This $10 million commitment reflects our belief in Madagascar’s conservation leadership and in the Malagasy organizations, communities, and scientists who know these landscapes best. Protecting Madagascar’s forests means safeguarding species found nowhere else on Earth, supporting the people who depend on these ecosystems, and helping the country turn its vision for 30×30 into reality.”

-James Deutsch, CEO of Rainforest Trust

The pledge comes at an important moment for conservation in Madagascar. In March 2026, 70 scientists—the majority Malagasy—completed the country’s first full scientific re-prioritization of terrestrial biodiversity since 1995, identifying 956 priority areas across approximately 108 million acres and producing a unified scientific roadmap to guide the next decade of conservation action. The Government of Madagascar designated 21 new protected and marine protected areas covering over 4 million acres in February 2026 and formalized the Prime Minister’s personal commitment to the 30×30 plan before international partners in Washington, D.C. in April 2026, as it works toward its national and global biodiversity commitments.

Rainforest Trust’s new funding will support new conservation projects, working alongside Malagasy conservation organizations, Indigenous Peoples and local communities, government agencies, and other partners to establish and strengthen durable protections for priority ecosystems.

“Madagascar is demonstrating key leadership in helping to meet the global 30×30 target. It has built a comprehensive sovereign national conservation plan, backed by rigorous science and developed with local communities, and is already producing results. Rainforest Trust’s $10 million commitment is the kind of targeted, catalytic investment that is needed, with the urgency and scale this moment demands,” said Brian O’Donnell, Director of Campaign for Nature.

“Delivering 30×30 in a country as biodiverse as Madagascar requires alignment among science, government, communities, and local and international partners working toward the same goals,” said Alain Liva Raharijaona, 30×30 Coordinator, Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development. “This commitment from Rainforest Trust demonstrates exactly that. It builds on Madagascar’s nationally owned 30×30 Biodiversity Plan, the 21 new protected areas designated by our government earlier this year, and the landmark scientific workshop that gave us a unified roadmap for the decade ahead. Now, Madagascar’s partnership with Rainforest Trust signals to the world that our approach is worth investing in, and gives all of us the ability to move faster and further to protect what we have before it is lost.”

Rainforest Trust has worked with partners in Madagascar since 2013, supporting the protection of habitat across the country. Recent conservation successes include the designation of the Tsinjoarivo-Ambalaomby Protected Area, which protects more than 65,000 acres of montane rainforest through a collaboration involving Madagasikara Voakajy, SADABE, and Rainforest Trust.

The $10 million commitment builds on that work while significantly increasing Rainforest Trust’s investment in Madagascar at a time when rapid action can secure important landscapes before they are lost.

About Rainforest Trust

Since 1988, Rainforest Trust has been working with partners to safeguard imperiled tropical habitats and threatened species by helping to establish protected and conserved areas in partnership with Indigenous and local organizations and communities. To date, Rainforest Trust has helped protect more than 68 million acres of vital habitat across Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific region. Rainforest Trust is a nonprofit organization that relies upon the generous support of the public to successfully implement its important conservation action. The organization is proud of earning a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator.

For media inquiries:

Rainforest Trust, Brynn Garner, brynn.garner@rainforesttrust.org