Have you ever wondered what is raffia and where it comes from? Raffia is a plant fiber that comes from the leaves of a tropical palm tree shown in the photo above. This palm is scientifically called the Raphia Farinifera. This palm tree grows in tropical parts of the world including in countries of Africa, South East Asia, Central and South America, and Hawaii. One of the world's best quality raffia, however, grows on the island of Madagascar. In Madagascar, extracting the usable part of the raffia leaves follows a slow and mechanical non polluting multi-step process. It can take several days to obtain usable fibers. The raffia fibers are obtained by stripping the long leaves of the palm tree. Only the long leaves, however, are stripped...

On this day of March 8, 2021, International Women's Day, Soava is delighted to celebrate and direct a spotlight on the "she"-roes of flora conservation in Madagascar and in particular on our compatriot Ms. Jeannie Raharimampionona. Ms. Raharimampionona is a Malagasy woman winner of the National Geographic/Buffet Award for Leadership in Conservation in November 2020.  Read this Soava blog post to learn more.

Madagascar is a unique place in the world when it comes to biodiversity of both plants and animals. Many species of fauna and flora only exist on the island. Unfortunately, because of population growth pressure, demand for charcoal, illegal logging, and other human activities, the precious Madagascar tropical forest is slowly disappearing and Lemurs are on the verge of extinction because of the destruction of their natural habitats. Read more about this Soava blog post here.