Communication

Conservation education is critical to the success of our programs

Andranohobaka School

Planet Madagascar opened its first school in 2022, in partnership with Seacology.

The Andranohobaka village is situated within the Ankarafantsika National Park, surrounded by land at risk of deforestation. The community has played an integral role in conserving the land, especially through their work in preventing firebreaks.

While conservation education is integral to Planet Madagascar’s initiatives, our main objective with the school is to provide more educational opportunities for Andranohobaka kids. Currently, only one in three children in the village finish elementary school. As a result, most adult residents are unable to read or write. Parents hope for a better future for their children, and have played an important role in the school's creation. By improving schooling conditions, we hope to help enhance the education provided to the coming generations.

COVID-19 Awareness in Madagascar

Planet Madagascar hit the airwaves to raise awareness about COVID-19 safety in Madagascar. Lauren Chang, a fourth year undergraduate student at the University of Guelph, wrote a song about how to prevent COVID-19 transmission, including proper handwashing and physical distancing. Working with our team at Planet Madagascar, we translated the song into Malagasy and recorded it with professional musicians. Beginning in December 2020, the song was broadcast on local radio in Madagascar.

Educational Films

We are proud to work with Chris Scarffe, an Emmy­ nominated, independent filmmaker, to create an educational film to add to our toolkit. The film provides Malagasy communities with information on the key threat to lemurs in their communities (fire), and strategies on what they can do to help prevent fire by highlighting fire management solutions that our organization, in partnership with local communities, plans to implement. The film is in Malagasy language, with a Malagasy host, and screened for a Malagasy audience. 

Lambas for Lemurs

Lambas for Lemurs was Planet Madagascar’s very first conservation education projects and so holds a special place in our hearts. It is a conservation education program created by Megan Shrum and Travis Steffens. This project was rooted in a widespread cultural tradition—the use and importance of a sarong-like cloth called a lamba. Lambas are square cotton clothes worn by men and women as skirts, wraps, scarves, and head wear and they are printed with traditional images depicting culturally-relevant scenes and messages about Malagasy life. We created and distributed lambas with images of lemurs and a message of conservation to individuals in 12 communities. Leaving behind these lambas served as a tangible reminder of the conservation program for these community members.

Education Workshops

We have also provided training programs for local adults on how to implement conservation education programs for the children. This type of engagement has left the communities with capacity to continue to educate their children and themselves on the issues facing the local wildlife and their own livelihoods.

Responsible Fire and Healthy Forest Day

We hold an annual “Responsible Fire and Healthy Forest Day” in the communities in Ankarafantsika to educate how to burn responsibly, and we have placed signage about the impact of uncontrolled fire along frequently used trails near the fire management zone.