Dr. Tomoki Oda, a Senior Researcher at  FFPRI and a member of SATREPS VaryAla Project Output 4, traveled to Madagascar in June for field investigations and meetings with collaborating research institutions.

During this business trip, hydrological and meteorological monitoring activities were continued and expanded in both forested watersheds and post-wildfire watersheds in and around Ankarafantsika National Park, Madagascar. In addition, to assess broader-scale impacts, water-level gauges were installed in major rivers draining the national park and in degraded catchments, and new streamflow monitoring was initiated.

Furthermore, canopy interception monitoring plots were established in forests with different wildfire histories, and field investigations were conducted on forest hydrological functions, including sap flow measurements and soil sampling. The team also collaborated with researchers from the University of Antananarivo's LRI to analyze soil samples and held discussions on future research activities and directions for the project.