The lemur outside of the park. Local development to save the great bamboo lemur.

Support local development to save the great bamboo lemur.

The Ranomafana National Park contains an incredibly rich amount of species. Here we find ninety-eight different species of frog, whereas the whole of Occidental Europe contains only a total of twenty-four different species. The natural environment surrounding the Vohitrarivo, Vohimarina and Sahofika villages, found at the border of the park, has been extremely damaged due to the slash-and-burn farming techniques used by many local cultures. Thankfully, in the present example, the first plant that grows back in the bamboo, which is the main food source of the species of lemur that bears the same name. Almost a quarter (150 specimens) of this species’ population find themselves living outside of the Park.

There are two things at stake. In the Park itself, the destruction of the forest cover is a catastrophe. Other than the plants that are disappearing, a third of the 115 species of birds that live in the Park and the vast majority of the frog are exclusively forest-dwelling. On the outskirts of the Park, if the human populations remain in misery and continue being undernourished, they will continue to destroy the forest. The bamboo shoots that re-grow after the fires are therefore threatened by these populations, who have no other choice than to re-burn this damaged land in the hope of getting out of it what little harvests are left.

The project

Help the local populations to get out of extreme poverty by putting in place a land use plan for three villages that will allow for the conservation of the habitat necessary for the survival of the great lemurs.

Its objectives

• Find a balance between the needs of men and those of the lemurs in order to allow local communities to cohabit harmoniously with the wild fauna through the application of the scientific program in progress in this area (eco-ethnological and socio-economic studies) and by raising awareness and educating the local populations (support for the education of primary school aged children);

• Increase the local population’s standard of living by supporting actions that help safeguard the harvests (construction of a silo, distribution of seeds) and improve returns (training) and by developing new Income Generating Activities (coffee and ginger);

• Improving the living conditions of the local populations by developing the infrastructures (bridge allowing children from one of the villages to access the school during the rainy season) and by increasing hygiene awareness (sanitary training and construction of latrines).