We sustainably develop ecotourism in the Antongil Bay, Masoala, Makira, Nosy Mangabe. We launched our Ecolodge concept on the western part of the Masoala Peninsula in 2001. So far we have had more than 4000 visitors who have been able to discover the exceptional local terrestrial and marine biodiversity.
How We Protect Lemurs And Other Wildlife
We protect Northern bamboo lemurs by planting bamboo, their food plant, in the Arol Ecolodge surroundings on the edge of Masoala forest. Around 100 bamboos have been planted and this has encouraged bamboo lemurs to visit near the lodge.
Northern bamboo lemur December 2019 Olivier Fournajoux
What Lemur Species We Protect
In the vicinity of the Arol Ecolodge there are Northern bamboo lemurs (Hapalemur occidentalis) which are a focus of our conservation efforts. These lemurs were classified Vulnerable in 2016 (Lemurs of Madagascar Strategy for Their Conservation) and are threatened by hunting and trapping.
How We Support Local Communities
By increasing rice production for the local community with the aid of an agricultural technician
Since 2007, we have been helping run the village school
The village is supplied with hydroelectricity and running water via standpipes with our contribution
Village associations gain direct benefits from ecotourism with our visitors
Dahari is the only Lemur Conservation Network member undertaking lemur-related work in the Comoros, a small nation to the west of the northern tip of Madagascar, and the only place where lemurs can be found naturally outside of Madagascar. As part of their work, the organization undertakes a broad range of conservation-related programming, livelihood improvement with local communities, ecotourism projects, and habitat protection work.
How We Protect Lemurs And Other Wildlife
Since November 2014, Dahari has been undertaking a research project on the Mongoose Lemur (Eulemur mongoz). This project aims to compare the genetic material of the mongoose lemurs of Madagascar and of Anjouan (Comoros) to find out whether the genetic diversity of the two populations is sufficient to ensure the species’ survival.
This initiative – being undertaken in partnership with the Madagascar Biodiversity Partnership and Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium and funded by Conservation International, the Primate Action Fund, and the Margot Marsh biodiversity fund – will help determine the best way to target conservation programs for this species. Further research and conservation programs will be identified once this initial research has been completed.
What Lemur Species We Protect
Dahari undertakes habitat protection and ecotourism work in the Moya forest area on the southern island of Anjouan. Here, the organization has been working to protect the Mongoose Lemur (Eulemur mongoz) since November 2014.
How We Support Local Communities
As a development and conservation NGO, Dahari has a wide range of activities with local communities, including habitat protection actions that will benefit the Mongoose lemur.
Agricultural work
Since 2008, Dahari has supported over 2500 farmers in nine villages around the Moya forest in the south of Anjouan to improve their agricultural yields and revenues. We propose techniques that restore and maintain fertility to improve yields in the long-term, whilst also making agricultural practices more compatible with forest conservation. We are fortunate to benefit from the technical support of the Centre International pour la Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD) on our rural development work.
Participatory conservation of the Livingstone’s fruit bat
Since September 2014, Dahari has been running a conservation program for the Livingstone fruit bat (Pteropus livingstonii), an endangered species endemic to Anjouan and Moheli islands in the Comoros. The conservation program is implemented in partnership with local communities in order to protect the roost sites of the bat. This is realised by finding solutions that allow the villagers and the Livingstone’s fruit bat to live alongside each other, without the needs of one hindering those of the other.
Supporting communities with water management and reforestation
The Comoros suffered from the highest rate of deforestation in the world between 2000 and 2010 according to UN figures. This has had a huge impact on soil fertility and water availability – 30 of 45 permanent rivers on Anjouan now flow intermittently. Dahari is therefore developing a reforestation program and a water management project in partnership with local communities on the island of Anjouan.
Biodiversity Conservation Madagascar (BCM) was established in 2002 as the conservation arm of Bioculture (Mauritius) Ltd. Our main goals are to conserve threatened forests in east and west Madagascar that are of high biodiversity value, especially those rich in lemur species. We currently work in the 2,400 hectare lowland rainforest in Sahafina (East Madagascar) and the Beanka dry deciduous forest in the Maintirano region (West Madagascar).
How We Protect Lemurs And Other Wildlife
BCM manages the conservation of two forests on behalf of the Malagasy government through “Conservation Leases.” Since 2003, we have been responsible for the protection of 2,400 hectares of humid low altitudinal forest in eastern Madagascar. In 2007, BCM started managing a second site—the Beanka New Protected Area in Western Madagascar. This 17,000 hectare forest is of significant ecological value and harbors a rich diversity of plants and animals.
We employ forest guards to reduce deforestation and poaching of lemurs.
What Lemur Species We Protect
We work in both east (Sahafina, near Brickaville) and west (Maintirano region) Madagascar protecting lemur species across both regions.
In the Benka conservation site, the program works to protect the following species:
One of our primary approaches to forest protection includes the use of conservation payments to local communities. This program ensures that communities receive direct material benefits in exchange for supporting ongoing conservation projects.
Biodiversity Conservation Madagascar also implements the following programs in partnership with local communities:
Eucalyptus and fruit tree plantations
To alleviate pressures on the forest, at BCM we manage the growing and planting of Eucalyptus trees, which provide a good source of fuel and construction materials for local communities. Eucalyptus trees, due to their ability to grow quickly and without a lot of water, are an ideal replacement for the precious and slow-growing hardwood trees that have been traditionally cut down by Malagasy communities. BCM has also helped plant fruit trees in local villages to provide a secondary source of food and income to the local people.
Water wells
BCM has provided the materials for local communities to build four water wells. This is of considerable importance as it helps assure a continuous water supply for the local community.
Agricultural training
BCM has trained local communities on how to effectively grow vegetables and to improve their rice growing techniques.
Founded in 1966, the Duke Lemur Center (DLC) at Duke University (Durham, North Carolina, USA) is an internationally acclaimed non-invasive research center housing over 200 lemurs across 14 species: the most diverse population of lemurs on Earth, outside their native Madagascar.
Because all of our research is non-invasive, the DLC is open to the public and educates more than 35,000 visitors annually. DLC’s highly successful conservation breeding program seeks to preserve vanishing species such as the aye-aye, Coquerel’s sifaka, and blue-eyed black lemur. Our Madagascar Conservation Programs study and protect lemurs (the most endangered mammals on Earth) in their native habitat. The Division of Fossil Primates examines primate extinction and evolution over time and houses over 35,000 fossils, including extinct giant lemurs and one of the world’s largest and most important collections of early anthropoid primates.
How We Protect Lemurs And Other Wildlife
DLC’s SAVA Conservation project is dedicated to preserving the natural biodiversity of Madagascar, especially its charismatic lemurs, by empowering local communities to be conservation leaders.
Collaboration with National Parks
Clear delineation of the park boundaries is essential to maintaining and monitoring the forest.
We’ve helped increase protection and monitoring of parks in Madagascar. For example at Marojejy, we have continued to sponsor clearing the park limits, painting trees, and hanging new signs for boundary demarcation, and a road-block barrier to prevent trucks from transporting precious wood out of the forest. We also help support monitoring work undertaken by village guards and park staff.
Manantenina near the Marojejy National Park lacks reliable sources of clean water because local sources are often contaminated with disease-causing microbes. We created a partnership agreement with the community to install a deep-water well that will maintain safe water even during the dry season.
Research
CURSA researchers and local forest managers in the COMATSA protected area of the SAVA region.
In collaboration with the local university (CURSA), we study lemur viability in protected areas in SAVA.
We have partnered with Malagasy PhD and Masters students on their thesis projects on the ecology and conservation of lemurs in the COMATSA, a corridor between Marojejy, Anjanaharibe-Sud, and Tsaratanana.
In addition to research in the forest on lemurs, the team conducts socio-ecological research with the communities. Through focus groups, key-informant interviews, and lemur awareness campaigns, the team is learning about how people use forest resources, especially the level of hunting.In collaboration with CURSA, we are studying the links between socioeconomics, agriculture, nutrition, and health.
Conservation Breeding Program
We maintain the world’s largest “genetic safety net” for endangered lemurs. At the Duke Lemur Center in Durham, North Carolina, USA we’re proud to have celebrated more than 3,405 births through our conservation breeding program since our founding in 1966.
What Lemur Species We Protect
At Duke Lemur Center we house the following lemur species for breeding and non-invasive research:
Aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis)
Black and White Ruffed Lemur (Varecia variegata variegata)
Blue-eyed Black lemur (Eulemur flavifrons)
Collared Lemur (Eulemur collaris)
Coquerel’s Sifaka (Propithecus coquereli)
Crowned Lemur (Eulemur coronatus)
Eastern Lesser Bamboo Lemur (Hapalemur griseus)
Fat-tailed Dwarf Lemur (Cheirogaleus medius)
Grey Mouse Lemur (Microcebus murinus)
Mongoose Lemur (Eulemur mongoz)
Red-bellied Lemur (Eulemur rubriventer)
Red-fronted Lemur (Eulemur rufifrons)
Red Ruffed Lemur (Varecia rubra)
Ring-tailed Lemur (Lemur catta)
We also support research focusing on the Silky Sifaka (Propithecus candidus) a highly endangered lemur found in the north east of Madagascar.
How We Support Local Communities
Our goals are preserving natural environments as well as increasing sustainability and resilience. We achieve these goals through activities centered on education, reforestation, sustainable agriculture, fuel-efficient stoves, women’s health, and much more.
Environmental education (EE)
Fostering a generation of environmental stewards begins in the school classroom with Madagascar’s youth, and incorporating the environment into daily classroom instruction can lead to a generation of Malagasy people interested in and equipped to protect their natural heritage.
We introduced an environmental education training manual originally developed by the Madagascar Flora and Fauna Group and the Ministry of Education. In partnership with skilled Malagasy educators, the DLC has introduced and trained school officials on the implementation of the educational curriculum into daily lesson plans. This approach ensures that the environmental education program is widely adopted from all levels of the education system. We want to ensure that the information is presented in a standardized and culturally sensitive manner, and therefore more readily adopted by the teachers on a daily basis. In collaboration with the school districts of Sambava and Andapa, we’ve conducted workshops with over 2,000 teachers to train them to incorporate environmental education into daily lessons.
Children proudly display their Lemur Appreciation certificates after a school visit in Manantenina
School children from the village of Ambatofitotra, near Sambava, during a visit to the New Generation School Garden. All visitors plant trees at the garden to commemorate their visit.
Landscape Restoration
DLC sponsored tree nursery with the local school at Belaoka-Marovato, Andapa district.
We maintain tree nurseries with communities to supply high quality seedlings of diverse trees including over a dozen native species, cash crops like coffee, cloves, and cacao, and over a dozen fruit species. As of the writing of this article, we partner with five communities to maintain tree nurseries and support their reforestation efforts. Each nursery produces approximately 25,000 seedlings per year, which are distributed to the community members to plant on their lands and during group planting events. Our staff provide consultation on proper planting techniques and follow up evaluations to determine seedling survival.
We are partnered with local collaborators to maintain and monitor 4 reforestation plantations throughout the SAVA region, with over 59,000 trees planted on 20 hectares in 2021.
CURSA Director, Dr. MANJARIBE Christophe (left) demonstrates proper tree planting techniques with staff and students at their demonstration agroforestry field station.
Information campaign and distribution of fuel-efficient ‘rocket’ stoves
More than 80% of people in Madagascar use firewood or charcoal to cook. We partner with the Swiss organization ADES, which produces fuel-efficient stoves in Madagascar that burn 1/3 the biomass of firewood or charcoal compared to traditional stoves. Between 2020 and 2021 alone, over 500 households received training and subsidized stoves. Stoves are sold during demonstrations, and through local entrepreneurs serving as distributors. We are evaluating participants, and found 100% of users are satisfied and save 25-50kg of charcoal on average per month.
Women’s reproductive health
We maintain collaboration with British NGO Marie Stopes International, to support nurses visiting remote villages and providing consultation and services on women’s health and reproduction.
Biodiversity Conservation Madagascar (BCM) was established in 2002 as the conservation arm of Bioculture (Mauritius) Ltd. Our main goals are to conserve threatened forests in east and west Madagascar that are of high biodiversity value, especially those rich in lemur species. We currently work in the 2,400 hectare lowland rainforest in Sahafina (East Madagascar) and the Beanka dry deciduous forest in the Maintirano region (West Madagascar).
