We work with local communities and partners, such as the AEECL (Lemur Conservation Association), to monitor wildlife and protect and restore habitats in Sahamalaza Iles Radama National Park, north-west Madagascar.
This region harbours many rare and endemic species, including the blue-eyed black, and Sahamalaza sportive lemurs, and the Ankarafa skeleton frog, all of which are Critically Endangered.
Without the vital work of BZS and its partners, the remnant forests and their resident wildlife will likely be lost, along with the valuable resources such as water regulation, resistance to erosion, and soil fertility, that they provide to local communities.
Our Madagascar projects
We want to directly engage with local people to develop projects focused on agriculture, livelihoods, sustainability, and capacity building, and create positive perceptions of conservation within local communities.
We are gathering baseline information about community livelihoods, attitudes, values, and issues of conservation concern
Creation (with AEECL) of BZS-managed community nurseries, and community utility plantations
Community engagement with reforestation work
Monitoring of different species is a key tool that informs our understanding of their distribution and abundances. It also allows us to assess species’ responses to ongoing threats and the effectiveness of our conservation initiatives.
Established systematic monitoring of lemur species across the National Park
Training of local staff and AEECL guides in survey methods and use of monitoring technologies
Implemented patrols to monitor threats to biodiversity
We undertake active reforestation to enlarge and connect the few existing forest fragments. We monitor seedlings for growth and survival and use an evidence-based approach to identify the best way to plant and maintain trees.
Creation of experimental reforestation plots in Sahamalaza
Monitoring seedling growth to identify the best combination of factors for survival
Creation of a strategic reforestation plan for Ankarafa forest to increase connectivity between existing fragments
Creation (with AEECL) of BZS-managed community nurseries
Planting around 15,000 seedlings per annum
Lisa is an inter-disciplinary conservation scientist with a background in marine biology and conservation of threatened species.
She has worked in many parts of the world in different environments on a range of species, most recently focusing on marine mammals but also working with local communities and applying ecological knowledge to conservation.
Megan specialises in conservation genomics and biodiversity surveying. She has worked in Madagascar since 2010 and has conducted research on multiple lemur species, including her PhD project on the molecular ecology of the cryptic aye-aye.
Megan is passionate about non-invasive monitoring of biodiversity and supporting training for local staff and colleagues.
Sam oversees the Society's conservation and higher education work and leads the northern Madagascar programme. He is an evolutionary biologist by training and joined BZS in 2017.
Sam has worked on a variety of conservation initiatives in Madagascar, including evaluation of the biodiversity value of vanilla and cacao agroforestry areas, and reforestation of Sahamalaza’s degraded landscape. He also sits on the Board of AEECL as its research coordinator.
Paige’s main experience is in captive animal management of a broad range of mammals over a ten-year period, specialising in small mammal and primate species. She conducted her MRes in ‘exploring the different values of housing nocturnal primates in zoos’, considering benefits to animal and human stakeholders.
Paige is interested in methods to understand and improve human-wildlife interactions.
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