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.
Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust: American Friends of Durrell
What We Do
Lee Durrell releasing ploughshare tortoises in 2011.
American Friends of Durrell promotes and supports the work of Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust (DWCT), a British wildlife charity established in 1963 by author and conservationist, Gerald Durrell. DWCT’s mission is to save species from extinction.
In Madagascar, the DWCT has been undertaking conservation actions for species and habitats since 1983. It has pioneered efforts for breeding and release-to-the wild of critically endangered species, for protecting vulnerable habitats and for enabling and empowering local communities to manage their natural environments sustainably. DWCT’s Madagascar Program employs approximately 30 people, mostly Malagasy nationals, and operates at eight sites. Lemurs are flagship species for two of the sites where the DWCT works: the Alaotran gentle lemur at Lac Alaotra and the black and white ruffed lemur at Manombo.
The American Friends of Durrell currently contribute to two of DWCT’s projects: (1) the Alison Jolly Madagascar Scholarship; and (2) the Madagascar Program Management and Coordination fund, which essentially covers the core costs of DWCT’s work in Madagascar. In the future, the American Friends of Durrell will likely increase their funding of the organization’s programs, especially as it relates to lemur conservation.
How We Protect Lemurs And Other Wildlife
Alaotran gentle lemurs.
Thanks to the help of the American Friends of Durrell, the DWCT in Madagascar has been able to achieve several landmark moments in lemur conservation. Notable successes include the establishment of a Ramsar Site for Lac Alaotra (East Madagascar) and a National Park at Baly Bay (West Madagascar).
What Lemur Species We Protect
Lemurs are flagship species for two of the sites where the DWCT works: the Alaotran gentle lemur (Hapalemur alaotrensis) at Lac Alaotra (East Madagascar) and the Black-and-white ruffed lemur (Varecia variegata) at Manombo (Southeast Madagascar).
How We Support Local Communities
DWCT pioneered its approach to partnering with local communities in the early 1990s on the project to save the ploughshare tortoise of Madagascar. It was inspired and led by the late Lala Jean Rakotoniaina, who became DWCT’s Community Conservation Coordinator and a Disney Conservation Hero. Now all of DWCT’s work in Madagascar – and elsewhere in the world – is modeled on this approach, with local communities participating in management actions and ultimately taking on decisions concerning their natural resources. The empowerment of local communities helps increase the sustainability of programming, and therefore the viability of species and target habitats.
The Babako Team in the Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology (DBIOS)
What We Do
Starting in 2002, the Babako Team in the Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology (DBIOS) has promoted research projects on biodiversity and capacity building in Madagascar and Comoros, at the individual, institutional and social levels Our projects center on increasing awareness of biodiversity and developing initiatives that empower communities to increase control over their lives and take a leading role in conservation of local biodiversity.
Partnerships
The project reflects a strong international partnership led by the DBIOS in collaboration with the Department of Arboriculture and Pomology, both at the University of Torino, Italy, the University of Antananarivo (ESSA), GERP, the University of Toamasina (Gestion des Ressources Naturelles et Environnement – GRENE), the University of Comoros, and the Zoological Society of San Diego.
For our academic research, we focus primarily on improving our understanding of primate phonation and vocal abilities. In these efforts, we focus on the vocal communications of indris (Indri indri) and other diurnal prosimians.
How We Support Local Communities
Maromizaha Forest. Photo: Valerie Torti.
Understanding that conservation must have the participation and support of local people to be effective, we have worked on increasing community involvement and awareness, general education outreach, and enhancing the capacity of local conservation managers and guides.
The Primary Forest of Maromizaha
Since 2008, our activities have focused on the primary forest of Maromizaha or “rainforest of the Dragon trees” (150 km east of Antananarivo and 6.5 km from the Analamazaotra Reserve). This forest is now managed by GERP (Groupe d’Etude et de Recherche sur les Primates de Madagascar). We aim to increase effective management of this area, by cultivating positive and sustainable societal attitudes towards wildlife in the local communities.
Capacity Building
We undertake this work both by establishing small programs and by implementing capacity-building activities. For example — and in order to increase awareness and develop education outreach programs in communities close to the forest — a multi-purpose centre was built that is just 40 minutes walking distance from the major highway that links Antananarivo to Toamasina.
Ho Avy uses reforestation and alternative livelihoods to protect biodiversity in southwest Madagascar.
Note that Ho Avy is not currently operating. There is a good possibility that this organization will begin work again in 2024. Please check back.
What We Do
Ho Avy is a grassroots project in the arid spiny forest of southwestern Madagascar. Based on field research initiated in 2007, Ho Avy has designed and developed a unique long-term approach promoting environmental stewardship through alternative and sustainable livelihoods. The organization is a collaborative effort between the Ho Avy association in Madagascar and New Latitude, a US-based non-profit.
Ho Avy means ‘the future’ in the Malagasy language, and as the name of the project suggests, in Malagasy, the mission of the project is to work towards approaches that adapt to local realities and work in real time to maximize synergies between conservation and peoples well being.
How We Support Lemur Conservation
Achieving high germination rates and survival of saplings (which is critical to achieving rapid reforestation) has been challenging due to southern Madagascar’ arid climate. However, trial and error has made it possible to overcome these hurdles.
Ho Avy works in the Southern Mikea forest region which has the highest diversity of lemurs and vertebrates in the expansive 6.6 million hectare ‘spiny forest region’. However the current local situation is that humans need a growing amount of resources from the land and sea which until recent times have been seemingly inexhaustible. Therefore, innovative and applied approaches, like ecological forest restoration, are needed to identify practical strategies that mitigate the current trend of extensive habitat loss in the spiny forest.
Reforestation
Since 2007, rural farming and costal community association’s have been collaborating with Ho Avy to propagate tree seedlings as part of an ongoing ecological reforestation model, adapted specifically to southwestern Madagascar’s endemic arid forest. The Ho Avy project originated out of an international collaborative research initiative that aimed to assess:
the ‘spontaneous regeneration’ of spiny forest plant species after logging, and
to see if reforestation would be possible with local communities.
One thousand trees were planted in the first year. Since then, the NGO has incrementally grown a network dozens of local collaborators at four nursery sites resulting in the growth of more than 100,000 tree seedlings of more than 100 species. Transplanted seedlings have reforested more than 10 hectares of degraded forest edges with Ho Avy being the only project in the southwest region with a track record of successful ecological reforestation on both upland dry and riparian spiny forest habitats. These habitats are the most critical in the regions for the eight species of lemur. Ho Avy has been undertaking research – in partnership with Malagasy students from the University of Toliara – to help increase the effectiveness of its reforestation efforts.
However, habitat conservation is easier said than done in southwest Madagascar where only 2% of the forest is formally protected, and around 1% is deforested every year, the fastest rate of deforestation anywhere on Madagascar. Even though the spiny forest is Madagascar most continuous forest and more than 98% of plant and 90% of animal’s species are endemic to this ecosystem, if comprehensive reform is not enacted quickly, many of these one-of-a-kind-species are threatened by extinction due to habitat loss.
How We Support Local Communities
Further research is critical to achieving lasting solutions that mitigate habitat loss and extinction of biodiversity in southwest Madagascar.
In parallel with Ho Avy’s forestry, the NGO has initiated development projects ranging from water infrastructure to local communities, a field/tourism station, and community environmental initiatives including a biogas system, university teaching, advising masters students, primary school gardens, ecological research and conservation.
Interactive Restoration
Ho Avy has been working towards sustainable and participatory development through a framework named ‘Interactive Restoration’. This means partnering with communities, identifying and protecting terrestrial and marine natural resources, and building logistical and human capacity to promote alternative livelihoods that are ecologically sustainable.
Ecotourism
In addition Ho Avy is in the process of developing ecotourism and research infrastructure in the spiny forest to help expand awareness, and further opportunities and results for lemur habitat conservation. Ho Avy has a detailed plan how this initial infrastructure has enormous potential to catalyze future conservation efforts for lemur’s and countless other endangered species endemic to the spiny forest.
Education and Sustainable Livelihoods
Given Ho Avy’s collaborative nature and framework for action, it has established deep relations with the broader community in southwestern Madagascar and will be focusing on three main general themes with local communities: research, environmental awareness/capacity building application and the creation of sustainable alternative livelihoods.
In the next year(s) the NGO seeks to scale-up it’s current pilot efforts by establishing a formal Ecological Farm & Forest Regeneration Training Program, adapted to southwest Madagascar. Ho Avy is collaborating with Michigan State University to exact the pilot model, diversity research possibilities, and ultimately to make a broader positive impact on the lives of people and biodiversity in need in the Toliara region.
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) saves wildlife and wild places worldwide through science, conservation action, education, and inspiring people to value nature. In Madagascar, we undertake conservation in and around the perimeter of the Marika National Park in the northeast of the country, where we partner with local communities to ensure lasting conservation success.
How We Protect Lemurs And Other Wildlife
Activities include a comprehensive field-based system of surveillance, law enforcement monitoring and ecological monitoring. We also work on restoration and maintenance of critical forestry corridors, research into habitats and species, and strengthening of the Government’s ability to manage and enforce forest and marine resource use regulations. WCS and our partners strive to develop the landscape as a model for resource conservation and biodiversity protection through better land stewardship linked to improved livelihoods.
Ecological monitoring of lemurs
We conduct ecological monitoring of lemurs annually at the Makira National Park in collaboration with the local communities. The aim is to detect any changes in the populations of 7 species. Data on lemur abundances, habitat health, and threats facing biodiversity are collected and analyzed to show the possible variations in lemur populations and help target conservation programming. In parallel with this ecological monitoring, WCS Madagascar collaborates with international and national researchers to enrich bio-ecological information on lemurs through various methods including surveys and genetic analysis. Lastly, in collaboration with GERP Association, we helped discover a new species of mouse lemur in 2009.
Participatory Conservation of Silky Sifaka (Propithecus candidus) in Makira Natural Park
Since 2005, in collaboration with international and national researchers, WCS has carried out extensive research on the Silky sifaka, a critically endangered lemur species in northeastern Madagascar. In addition to research, this program aims to:
Adopt a practical conservation action plan for the Silky Sifaka that is based upon participatory conservation measures
Use baseline data on Silky Sifaka abundance, distribution and threats to identify priority conservation actions for inclusion in a conservation action plan
Gain community and authority consensus on the conservation action plan
Develop and implement a synchronized ranger and community ecological monitoring network in Makira Natural Park
Develop and implement a community ecological monitoring network
This program will also have a community development component, which will involve education and awareness raising programs. In addition, we hope to integrate Silky sifaka conservation in community ecotourism activities that generate economic benefits for the local community. For example, the organization has developed an eco-lodge and partnerships with private tourism operators. The chance to observe the Silky Sifaka in the wild is a key attraction of the site for tourists so it provides a tangible opportunity to generate economic benefits for the community resulting from the conservation of this species.
What Lemur Species We Protect
It’s our aim to contribute to the protection of lemur species found in Makira National Park. This includes more than 15 species of lemurs known to inhabit it. Seven of them are included in WCS’ Makira Project conservation targets:
At WCS we work hard to ensure the sustainability of our programming, as there are clear links between improved livelihoods, improved land stewardships, and conservation. To achieve this, we engage with local communities to build their capacity as effective stewards of their natural resources. We ensure communities derive benefits from the natural resources through promotion of community-based ecotourism and nature based product enterprises, improved agriculture, reinforced governance, and market access.
Partnerships are established through the transfer of forest management to local communities. Communities are also involved in patrolling and ecological monitoring. In addition, we have trained dozens of local community teams to assist in data collection programs, thereby increasing the capacity of communities to monitor local biodiversity and ecosystems.
WCS is developing a network of community based natural resource management sites in the form of a ‘green belt’ around the protected areas. We provide support to communities to improve sustainable management of natural resources through diversification of livelihood options and activities to improve human health and welfare.
Finally, WCS is helping secure the area’s financial future, and has developed partnerships with the private sector in the sale of carbon credits from avoided deforestation, ecotourism, and wildlife friendly products.
Association Tantelygasy uses innovative development and reforestation programs to protect lemur habitat and help conserve lemurs in central Madagascar.
How We Protect Lemurs And Other Wildlife
One of our larger objectives is to work with local communities to ensure the ongoing health of the forest, which protects and helps regenerate lemur habitat. Reforestation efforts were launched in 2014, planting over 1,300 trees in just six months! The Association continues reforestation work through tree planting and creating tree nurseries.
How We Support Local Communities
We work in partnership with village leaders and with local village associations to build capacity in the community and ensure the sustainability of our organization’s programming. In addition, we conduct a wide range of pro-environment programs in Ambositra to incentivize communities to protect remaining forest and gain income from non-forest sources.
Eco-tourism
We have been developing eco-tourism at our project site since 2012. In the first six months of this eco-tourism program, we built its foundation, attracted 45 visitors, and planted 1,300 trees!
Association Tantelygasy seeks funds to continue building up the community’s ability to accommodate and manage a tourist economy. This includes:
Training guides who can collaborate with tourism agencies and responsibly guide tourists through the protected forest
Creating and maintaining official trails through the forest to minimize human impacts on the local fauna and flora
Constructing a reception area at the entrance to the park
Constructing an area for security guards to stay overnight at the entrance of the park, so they do not have to travel a distance back to the local village
Conducting a comprehensive survey of the flora and fauna in the forests, with the help of specialists, who will also study how local communities use the forest’s plants in their traditional healing practices
Handicraft Association
Association Tantelygasy is working with local women’s associations to develop a local handicraft trade, including embroideries and baskets made of local products. While the local women’s associations obtain most of the financing needed for the handicrafts, Association Tantelygasy will be promoting sales abroad and raising the larger funds needed to advance these community associations.
Farming and beekeeping
As Association Tantelygasy progresses, we plan to implement farming and beekeeping programs to alleviate the need for local communities to rely on the forest for income and food. We’re currently raising funds to create model gardens where we will teach sustainable agriculture to local communities and provide the community with free and low-cost seeds and gardening equipment. In addition, Association Tantelygasy has its sights set on beekeeping, which can help both the environment, through pollination, as well as the community.
Centre ValBio & the Institute for the Conservation of Tropical Environments
What We Do
The Centre ValBio – a cutting-edge research station in Madagascar.
The Institute for the Conservation of Tropical Environments (ICTE) was established by Dr. Patricia Wright in 1991 to encourage and promote scientific research, training and conservation in the tropics. We (together with Stony Brook University) maintain a state-of-the-art research station, Centre ValBio, adjacent to Ranomafana National Park in eastern Madagascar. This research station hosts hundreds of researchers, students, and eco-tourists each year; it is truly the only facility of its kind in the country.
Centre ValBio (CVB) was founded in 2003 and helps both indigenous people and the international community better understand the value of conservation in Madagascar and around the world.
Centre Valbio has three main objectives:
To promote world-class research in one of the world’s most biologically diverse and unique ecosystems
To encourage environmental conservation by developing ecologically sustainable economic development programs with local villages
To provide the local villagers with the knowledge and tools to improve their quality of life through projects focused on sanitation, diet, and education, and ultimately reduce poverty in the area
How We Protect Lemurs And Other Wildlife
Wildlife in the Ranomafana National Park.
The Ranomafana National Park – which protects 41,500 hectares of rainforest – was created with the help of Dr. Patricia Wright, the founder of ICTE and Centre Valbio. Since the creation of this park, the organization has continued to help bring attention to the plight of lemurs and biodiversity in Madagascar at the regional, national, and international level.
Long-term research programs are a big priority for ICTE. We train scientists at all levels through field-based courses, collaborations, and academic exchanges. More than 400 scientific publications have directly resulted from work conducted in partnership with the Centre ValBio. In addition, we also conduct biodiversity research and ecological assessments of tropical ecosystems, and coordinate and catalog the work of over 800 natural and social scientists!
Successes at Centre ValBio include the translocation of three Greater bamboo lemur from a forest fragment to the national park, as well as the discovery of a thriving group in a nearby region!
What Lemur Species We Protect
The work of ICTE/Centre Valbio places particular emphasis on the region surrounding the Ranomafana National Park, in eastern Madagascar. This park is host to several lemur species, including:
Aye aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis)
Brown mouse lemur (Microcebus rufus)
Eastern wooly lemur (Avahi laniger)
Golden bamboo lemur (Hapalemur aureus)
Greater bamboo lemur (Prolemur simus)
Milne-Edwards’ sifaka (Propithecus edwardsi)
How We Support Local Communities
Centre ValBio’s conservation programs have also included reforestation and education initiatives.
One of the central missions of ICTE/Centre Valbio has been collaboration and partnerships with the local Malagasy community. We employ over 80 local Malagasy as guides and staff for the research station, and opened up opportunities for work in the park and surrounding areas. In addition to providing sustainable employment, Centre Valbio organizes multiple outreach programs in the fields of education, the arts, sustainable agriculture, and reforestation.
Conservation outreach
Centre ValBio leads outreach and public awareness programs that highlight the unique biodiversity of Madagascar; most of this is achieved through 15 conservation clubs spread across 22 villages that contain almost 500 members. Audiovisual and hands-on demonstrations are also used to deliver education on biodiversity and reforestation in 19 local schools. Centre ValBio and ICTE also support a range of education initiatives in the Ranomafana region.
Centre ValBio donates food to local community thanks to the help of an emergency fund.
Reforestation program
Centre ValBio undertakes educational outreach aimed at teaching the value of trees, not just for animals, but for clean water and erosion control as well. Reforestation initiatives have also targeted schools through their “from schools to the communities programs”, which has worked with 22 villages and 15 clubs on reforestation initiatives.
Health and hygiene
At Centre Valbio we work to improve the local communities’ nutritional conditions through education, implementation of infrastructure, and follow-up on improved sanitary practices. For example, we provide seeds and training for vegetable gardens to improve nutritional conditions in impoverished rural communities.
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.
Children proudly display their Lemur Appreciation certificates after a school visit in Manantenina
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.
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).
