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Our blogger Phil Reeks visits Ranomafana National Park on a tour.

In Search of Ruffed Lemurs at Ranomafana National Park

  For myself the name ‘Ranomafana’ has always conjured mystical images of abrupt hills, drifting mist, dense forest and hidden lemurs. It us a must-see for any nature lover heading to Madagascar. Although my group tour didn’t allow for long within its lush confines, it at least gave me a chance to glimpse some of the island’s most rare wildlife. The omens were positive. Within a few hours of arriving in Antananarivo, I had an incredibly lucky encounter with Doctor […]

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Adventurer Ash Dykes Attempts 1,800 Mile Trek Across Madagascar

At just 24 years old, British explorer Ash Dykes already has plenty of extreme and noteworthy adventures under his belt. He thrives on “challenging and off the beaten track adventures and expeditions” that bring him to the far corners of the world, with extreme tests to his endurance and stamina. His adventures often bring him to the middle of dangerous weather conditions, like sandstorms, harsh winters, and scorching heat in the middle of the driest deserts.   In 2014, Ash walked 1,500 miles across […]

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On the Ground in Madagascar with Asia Murphy

  First, can you describe your background and research focus? As an African-American born and raised in California, I shouldn’t be in this field. I shouldn’t have watched NatGeo wildlife documentaries or gone camping or raised butterflies. Fortunately, I was exposed to the world of wildlife through my dad, who loved animals. But my exposure to wildlife was still limited. I got to college (NC State) and was highly disappointed to realize that studying wildlife wasn’t just following them around […]

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The Gateway to Wilderness

A Day in Andasibe

Only for the Intrepid For the uninitiated Madagascar can be daunting. It’s large, busy, potentially dangerous, the roads are terrible and travelling the island solo requires both bravery and guile. Being on a tight time schedule (and being a wimp), my recent visit to the land of lemurs was with an organised tour group. This began and ended in Antananarivo with three national parks along the way and the promise of plenty of prosimians. First Up: Andasibe Andasibe is the […]

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Leading Conservation with Mamy Razafitsalama

  Mamy Razafitsalama developed his love for lemurs growing up in a small village on the East coast of Madagascar. Unfortunately unlike Mamy, many Malagasy people are unaware of the benefits lemurs have on healthy forest ecosystems. Local communities often burn their natural resources as a means of survival in the face of widespread poverty.  They burn grasses to increase cattle grazing areas. This practice frequently leads to forest fires that destroy critical lemur habitat. Mamy leads conservation as Planet Madagascar’s […]

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Learning thru Lemurs: Lemurpalooza and Lemur Limericks!

Teacher Robin Lee at the Ellis School in Fremont, New Hampshire, USA just finished a whole year of “Learning thru Lemurs” with her 6th grade language arts students! The students were inspired by lemurs and Madagascar all school year, reading and writing about conservation, the rainforest, and all of the amazing animals that call Madagascar home. They visited the zoo, made lemur stuffed animals, and integrated conservation words into their vocabulary lessons. Learn more about Robin Lee’s Learning thru Lemurs […]

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Daniel Rabino

Leading Conservation: A Chat with Daniella Rabino

How Daniella Started PLAY Where does education come in? Daniella Rabino, the driver behind PLAY, Protecting Life through Active Youth, asked this as a study abroad student in 2007. As an elementary education student, it seemed like education was left out as a central part of redefining relationships between state, NGO bodies, and local lives, to connect ideas across spaces. I started realizing that these issues were big and the intersections between fields were not really addressed in a way that […]

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Ihsane Lahlou of the Dahari organization.

Member update from Dahari

Studying lemurs in the Comoros with the NGO Dahari I am Ihsane Lahlou a researcher in ecology and conservation. I started my career in France and Togo before joining the team of the Comorian NGO Dahari in 2014 to work on conservation programs, particularly on the Livingstone fruit bat. At Dahari, we are currently working on a participatory conservation program of this fruit bat and we also ensure the annual monitoring of the species. In parallel, we are working on […]

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