From Trees to Forest

Planting trees and restoring endangered forest involves more than simply putting trees into the ground. Ask any of Planet Madagascar’s staff working to restore forest in Ankarafantsika National Park, northwest Madagascar. These hard-working individuals—members of local communities near the park—would tell you that there are numerous considerations and many details that must be accounted for. To ensure that seedlings germinate and live to become forest, our teams work to plant native species grown from seeds that were hand collected into plastic growing bags. They produce compost to help the seedlings grow. They carefully put ID tags on each seedling when it is planted and mark its location with a handheld GPS so that we can track its progress.

What’s the reason for this diligence?

Some of the world’s richest tropical dry deciduous forest are found in western Madagascar but unfortunately, because of an increasing need for resources, human activities have destroyed the majority of these forests. In fact, there are only five blocks of tropical dry deciduous forest larger than 50,000 hectares left in Madagascar, and one of these is Ankarafantsika National Park. The Lemur Conservation Strategy outlines habitat loss and fragmentation as “the most important factor driving historic losses for lemurs.” Ankarafantsika is home to eight lemur species, of which four are Vulnerable, one Endangered, and two Critically Endangered.

Our forest restoration project is funded by IUCN Save Our Species and takes place in an 8,000 hectare management zone within Ankarafantsika National Park. Our teams are working to protect and expand endangered lemur habitat and contribute to improving the livelihoods for local communities living in conjunction with the lemurs and the forest. We employ residents to collect, process, and nuture seeds in 5 nurseries. We produce our own biological compost using green leaves, zebu (cattle) feces, hay, and microorganism activators. Team members tend to the seedlings until they reach 15 to 30 centimeters, at which point the teams transport them to the plantation zone for planting. 

Local Malagasy community members are involved at all levels and stages of our projects from conception through implementation. We consult with key stakeholders at the outset of all our projects to ensure that our conservation actions are appropriate and beneficial for all. The community members who are involved in our projects receive an ongoing salary and training opportunities. Our teams are proud of the work that they are doing to benefit their home and the local wildlife. 

Thanks to the support from IUCN Save Our Species and the efforts of our project team, we have successfully planted 67,000 trees made up of 15 different species, restoring and maintaining 75 hectares of forest in Ankarafantsika.

Lemur Tales

By Jahssme Guillaume

Indri lemur in Adasibe National Park, Madagascar, T. Steffens

Once upon a night, centuries ago, in the forests of Madagascar, explorers on a Portuguese expedition laid asleep. They had lost friends on this journey and the terrains had tested their survival. Suddenly, otherworldly sounds emerged from the darkness, ripping the adventurers out of their slumber. They saw the bright orange eyes of the haunting creatures piercing through the darkness. Could these be the spirits of the friends they had lost (Romberg, 2020)?

The morning light revealed that the haunting ghosts were not ghosts at all, but large-eyed, monkey-like creatures (Romberg, 2020). The explorers named these mysterious creatures “lemurs,” a word coming from the Roman “spirits of the dead” (Romberg, 2020).

That is just one story of the origin of the word “lemur.” Before those explorers landed on Madagascar, lemurs lived alongside humans for thousands of years. In Malagasy language, lemurs are called “gidro.” With more than one hundred different species of lemur found in Madagascar, there are many fascinating stories and traditions that surround the lemurs, and that also play a role in their conservation.

Aye-aye

The aye-aye’s bizarre physical attributes along with its nocturnal lifestyle, have resulted in a “fady,” meaning taboo in Malagasy (Virun, 2018). As the stories go, ill fortune comes to those who the aye-aye points it’s slender long middle finger at; bringing death, disease and suffering (Aye Ayes Project, n.d.). Even the aye-aye’s name is believed to mean “I don’t know,” in an effort not to speak its name (Simons & Meyer, 2001). Some tales say that the aye-aye sneaks into villages at night and stabs its petrified victims in the aorta with its skeletal middle finger (Aye Ayes Project, n.d.). 

While in one area, the taboo surrounding aye-ayes may protect them, in others they may be persecuted (Virun, 2018). Sadly, the aye-aye is one of the 25 most threatened primates (Randimbiharinirina et al. 2019), but there are many conservation organizations working to protect this species. For example the late Alison Jolly and Hanta Rasamimanana chose the aye-aye for an illustrated children’s book called the Ako project, which aims to teach Malagasy children about why lemurs are unique and important.

Aye-Aye; nomis-simon, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Indri

Indri are the largest living lemur, and are called “Babakoto,” meaning Ancestor of Man. There are many legends surrounding the indri, but one story goes that a young boy was moving through the forests in eastern Madagascar. In search of honey, he climbed a tall tree when someone below cut the vines, leaving him stranded in the tree. Out of nowhere, the boy was saved by an indri swinging through the trees.

This story--where the indri is a saviour--and others like it have helped to protect the indris, with some believing that Indris are ancestors.

Indri lemur, T. Steffens

Sifaka

The sifaka, which is one of the many lemurs found in areas where Planet Madagascar runs our projects, has a similar story to the Indri. It is taboo to hunt this lemur because of the stories that seem to humanize their existence - literally! Although the stories range from community to community, they point to one similar thing, these lemurs were once human (Anania et al., 2018). Not only that, but it is said that they existed as a family member, whether it was a wife or a son (Anania et al., 2018). This is further reinforced by their physical similarities to humans and complex behaviours individually and within groups (Loudon et al., 2006). 

Coquerel’s sifaka in Ankarafantsika National Park, T. Steffens

Community Efforts

It is clear that stories can have a powerful impact on the conservation status of lemurs, for better or for worse. However, lemurs remain the most endangered group of animals on the planet. Planet Madagascar partners with Malagasy communities to create awareness about the conservation plight of lemurs, while also working with people to improve their livelihoods. Our projects provide employment and we are working to develop sustainable food options and a sustainable economy through efforts such as our beekeeping initiative. Through these efforts, Malagasy people continue to work tirelessly toward protecting the legendary lemurs.

So what can I do to help? 

You can help support our projects through adopting an hectare of forest, adopting a lemur, shopping on our online store, and/or simply donating what you can—a little goes a long way to supporting our projects. Join us and the many people of Madagascar working to protect the beloved lemurs.

References

Anania, A., Salmona, J., Rasolondraibe, E., Jan, F., Chikhi, L., Fichtel, C., Rasoloarison, R. (2018). Taboo adherence and presence of Perrier’s sifaka (Propithecus perrieri) in Andrafiamena forest. Madagascar Conservation & Development, 13(1), 6–14. https://doi.org/10.4314/mcd.v13i1.1 

Legends and Myths. Aye Ayes Project. (n.d.). https://ayeayesproject.weebly.com/legends.html.

Loudon, James E.; Sauther, Michelle L.; Fish, Krista D.; Hunter-Ishikawa, Mandala ; and Ibrahim, Youssouf Jacky, "One reserve, three primates: applying a holistic approach to understand the interconnections among ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta), Verreaux's sifaka (Propithecus verreauxi), and humans (Homo sapiens) at Beza Mahafaly Special Reserve, Madagascar" (2006). Ecological and Environmental Anthropology (University of Georgia). 7.

Romberg, C. (2020, August 29). The Power of Storytelling to Inspire Lemur Conservation. Lemur Conservation Network. https://www.lemurconservationnetwork.org/the-power-of-storytelling-to-inspire-lemur-conservation/. 

Simons, E., Meyers, D., & Klensang, H. (2001, July). Folklore and Beliefs about the aye-aye. (J. U. Ganzhorn, K. Glander, B. Rakotosamimanana, M. Schwibbe, A. Ganzhorn, B. M. Raharivololona, … B. Thede, Eds.) Lemur News, pp. 11–15. 

60,000 Trees

By Keriann McGoogan

Planting season has begun for Planet Madagascar. Our teams are made up of local Malagasy community members from three different communities in Ankarafantsika National Park, Northwest Madagascar. These community members have been tirelessly tending to seedlings in three nurseries for months. Each day, teams check the plants, make sure they have enough water, and measure their progress. The seedlings span roughly 15 different species, indigenous to Madagascar. Beginning in January, these seedlings are ready to plant.

 Our forest restoration initiative, funded by IUCN Save Our Species, has been ongoing since 2017, and we are so proud to announce that since that time we have planted more than 60,000 trees in our 75-hectare plantation zone.

Planet Madagascar’s forest restoration project aims to expand lemur habitat by creating and maintaining a 75-hectare forest corridor. This corridor connects two of the largest dry forest fragments in Ankarafantsika, home to eight different species of lemur. Lemurs are the most endangered group of animals in the world. According to the IUCN Redlist of Threatened Species, one third of all lemur species are threatened with extinction, largely due to habitat loss and fragmentation. In Ankarafantsika, five of the eight different species of lemur are endangered or critically endangered according to the IUCN Redlist of Threatened Species.

Our teams on the ground in Madagascar know the importance of the work that they do. By tending to, transporting, and planting the seedlings, they are helping to build forest—lemur habitat—that will contribute to saving lemurs, which are only found in Madagascar and nowhere else in the world. The community members also know that the work that they do helps to improve their own livelihoods. Ongoing employment helps to generate revenue and support their families. It is a win-win situation.

 Between January 2021 and March 2021, we jumped into planting season. We hired 86 temporary employees (in addition to our core 15 nursery staff and 18 fire management team members) to support these efforts. These hardworking individuals planted 14,698 seedlings in our plantation zone. They have marked each of the seedlings that they planted with a GPS and put ID tags on them. By identifying each seedling, we can monitor its progress and measure our success.

As we watch the more than 60,000 trees that we have planted grow and the forest gradually take shape, it is easy to imagine lemurs living in this newly created forest. We can see them in our mind’s eye. The tiny golden brown mouse lemur zipping from branch to branch, finding insects to eat. The majestic Coquerel’s sifaka, using their powerful hindlimbs to leap between the trees we have planted in search of fruits. Perhaps even the critically endangered mongoose lemur will emerge in that forest, carrying their infants on their backs as they move within the canopy. It is those lemurs and the people that live within these forests that motivate us to continue our projects and we are thrilled to see our efforts take shape.

 This project is funded by IUCN Save Our Species. The contents of this article are the sole responsibility of Planet Madagascar and do not necessarily reflect the views of IUCN.

The Struggles and Resiliencies of Madagascar during COVID-19

By Jahssme Guillaume

Like the rest of the world, COVID-19 hit Madagascar suddenly in 2020. Starting March 4th, 2020, Madagascar implemented preventative measures, placing restrictions on international travel; closing their borders to the world (Travel Bans, n.d.). Although restrictions were loosened slightly in November of 2020, the country has since brought forth stricter measures once again (Travel Bans, n.d.). As of March 2021, it is mandatory to wear face masks in public places, gatherings are restricted, and international flights are suspended (Travel Bans, n.d.). Not surprisingly, the Madagascar economy has been greatly impacted, challenging a country that already struggles with poverty (World Bank, 2020).

COVID-19 Impacts on Madagascar Tourism

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Lemur Conservation Strategy, tourism plays a significant role in lemur conservation by generating a substantial amount of foreign exchange to the Madagascar economy. Ecotourism in Madagascar is important for the development of local communities because it provides a sustainable way for people to earn money and financial motivation to protect endangered species. Unfortunately, with travel restrictions in place since the pandemic began, Madagascar’s tourism trade has collapsed with more than half a billion dollars lost in tourism revenues (Vyawanhare, 2020).

Prior to the COVID-19 crisis, Ankarafantsika, where Planet Madagascar runs its programs, was one of the most popular sites for first-time visitors to Madagascar. Since the crisis, our ground teams report that the local tour guides are struggling to maintain their livelihood.

Trickle-down Effects

Malnutrition is a serious issue in Madagascar (The World Bank, 2020). Strains on communities due to poverty have been exacerbated during the pandemic, and have detrimental effects on surrounding rainforests as local communities turn to alternative ways to survive and provide for their families--for example, expanding cattle grazing or burning forests for charcoal production (Maron, 2020).  

Following the pandemic, people from the cities in Madagascar also began to turn rural areas into farmland, creating additional pressures on surrounding forest habitats (Maron, 2020). With communities scrambling for resources, the already endangered, endemic lemur populations are under a greater threat from the pressures of these anthropogenic factors (Maron, 2020).

Conservation Continues

Like many conservation organizations working in Madagascar, Planet Madagascar, has been faced with challenges such as travel restrictions and limitations on gatherings; with staff unable to visit field sites, restrictions on conducting training, and no in-person meetings. In 2020 some of our conservation activities, such as training staff on using smartphones to collect data, and conservation education days, were delayed.

Although Planet Madagascar faced challenges, we are grateful for our strong leaders working (and living) in the communities. Our office staff, who were locked down in Antananarivo at the beginning of the pandemic, were able to communicate with our ground teams via telephone. The community leaders provided reports for our fire management and forest restoration initiatives via phone calls and emails. 

We are excited to share that our local community fire management team are now using smartphones to collect data on lemurs and the forest--data that is reported back to our office staff in real-time (project funded by the Critical Ecosystems Partnership Fund). We are also proud to say that to date we have planted more than 60,000 trees (our forest restoration project is funded by IUCN Save Our Species).

Keeping our Teams Safe

To address issues of community and staff safety in the face of COVID-19, in July 2020, we ran a fundraising campaign to purchase personal protective equipment (PPE) for our staff in the communities. We also provided guidance on physical distancing and hand washing. In the fall of 2020, Planet Madagascar worked with Lauren Chang, a fourth year anthropology undergraduate student at the University of Guelph to bring the message of COVID-19 safety even further. Chang 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 has been broadcast on local radio in Madagascar. Listen to it here.

One of the nation’s top environmentalists, Jonah Ratsimbazafy, states, “An empty stomach has no ears,” (Vyawanhare, 2020). In order to protect endemic species in Madagascar, it is critical to begin with the people as their fates are very much intertwined (Vyawanhare, 2020). We “must also do more to ensure lasting improvements in the lives of people who do — and sacrifice — the most to protect the planet’s most vulnerable inhabitants'' (Vyawanhare, 2020).

References

France-Presse, Agence. “Madagascar's Lemurs Take a Breather as Tourism Struggles.” The Jakarta Post, 25 Sept. 2020, www.thejakartapost.com/life/2020/09/24/madagascars-lemurs-take-a-breather-as-tourism-struggles.html. 

Madagascar travel Regulations, CORONAVIRUS REGULATIONS, travel bans. (2021, March 17). Retrieved March 20, 2021, from https://travelbans.org/africa/madagascar/

Maron, D. F. (2021, February 10). Madagascar's endangered lemurs are being killed during pandemic lockdowns. Retrieved March 23, 2021, from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/pandemic-lockdown-endangered-lemurs

The World Bank in Madagascar. (2020, July 31). Retrieved March 20, 2021, from https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/madagascar/overview

Vyawahare, M. (2020, December 20). As visitors Vanish, Madagascar's protected areas suffer A 'DEVASTATING' BLOW. Retrieved March 20, 2021, from https://news.mongabay.com/2020/05/as-visitors-vanish-madagascars-protected-areas-suffer-a-devastating-blow/

Vyawahare, Malavika. “Lemurs Might Never Recover from COVID-19 (Commentary).” Mongabay Environmental News, 30 Oct. 2020, news.mongabay.com/2020/10/lemurs-might-never-recover-from-covid-19-commentary/.

Civilized Adventures -- building forests in Madagascar

They are a group of 41 women, belonging to a cooperative called Tontolo Maitso in a small, Madagascar community in Ankarafantsika National Park, in the NW of the country. The group of women have been hard at work, cultivating the seedlings. Every day, members of the group tend to the plants. They water them, and check to ensure there is sufficient light, and enough space to grow. The seedlings look green and lush now—healthy—and it’s no wonder: the women in the cooperative are experts, having worked on this project for the past year. Soon, the women know, these plants will be ready for transport.

            This is not your ordinary gardening project. These seedlings consist of trees, many that are native to Madagascar, which will provide habitat to the unique wildlife in the country, the endangered lemurs and birds only found in Madagascar and nowhere else on Earth. The women are working as part of a forest regeneration project run by Planet Madagascar, a Canadian non-profit organization. Thanks to generous support from Civilized Adventures, Planet Madagascar and the women’s cooperative have grown 10,000 new seedlings this past year. Once transported and replanted, 6,000 of the trees will become part of a self-sustaining 75-hectare corridor of forest. 

The corridor connects two forest fragments where lemurs and other endangered species are known to range. By connecting the fragments, the amount of habitat that is available for the wildlife to range will increase.

            Madagascar is a global conservation priority because it has lost a great deal of forest cover—approximately 44% between 1953 and 2014—and, as a result, the wildlife that relies on these forests are highly endangered. Researchers estimate that 95% of lemurs are threatened with extinction, making them the most endangered group of animals on the planet. It is crucial to address habitat loss and fragmentation. But the problem is complex. People in Madagascar are some of the poorest in the world, living on less than two dollars a day in many places. Habitat loss in the country is related to small-scale farming, charcoal production, and cattle grazing. It is therefore critical to consider the needs of the people and ensure that local members of the community feel ownership over the project. That’s why when Civilized Adventures donated the 10,000 trees, they made sure that while 6,000 seedlings would be planted in the corridor, the remaining 4,000 trees would be planted around the community to the benefit of the people.

            “This is a long-term project, but we are making exciting progress toward our goal,” says Travis Steffens, Executive Director of Planet Madagascar. “The 10,000 trees donated by Civilized Adventures will make a huge impact, not just for the lemurs but also for the people living in this region.”

Madagascar Memories: Yuri Fraser

Our next installment of Madagascar Memories comes from Yuri Fraser. Yuri spent several months in Madagascar, living and working as a field researcher for a project on habitat fragmentation in Ankarafantsika National Park.

Yuri In Madagascar

Here is one of Yuri’s favourite memories from his time in Madagascar: 

Mornings in Madagascar were some of my favourite times. While staying in Ankarafantsika National Park, I would start my day by making my way to the nearby restaurant. I’d exchange smiles and “salamas” with those I passed--children and guides. 

The morning mist lifted, revealing the forms of exotic palms and hardwoods. Oftentimes, I would see some of the young women braiding each others hair while gossiping or singing. I am still shocked by the fact that so many people in Madagascar seem to be innately lovely singers!

The homey smell of breakfast cooking in the kitchen greeted my arrival at the restaurant. I’d take my seat and order coffee, fruit, yoghurt and Malagasy fritters (mofo, in the local Malagasy). Then, settling in, I’d dunk a fritter in my coffee and survey my surroundings. Occasionally, if I was lucky, I would see the local troop of sifaka lemurs, leaping and bounding from tree to tree. Going about their morning ritual, clearly, the lemurs were enjoying the morning as much as I was! 

I remember once a nearby guide lit his cigarette, and I observed the sinuous curls of rising smoke, warm beams of sunlight streaking through. That moment was one of deep satisfaction, as Madagascar’s charms impressed upon all my senses.

Madagascar Memories: Kim Valenta Founder of Mad Dog Initiative

Planet Madagascar is excited to bring you the next installation in our blog series, Madagascar Memories. This one comes from Kim Valenta, a wildlife biologist who works in Madagascar and a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto.

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My name is Kim, and I am a wildlife biologist who works in Madagascar. What that mostly means is that I spend a lot of time chasing lemurs around the forest.

Kim Valenta, Photo by Travis Steffens

Most of the forests in Madagascar are gone, and the ones that are left are heavily disturbed. Madagascar is a poor country—a lot of the population is still rural and make their living as best as they can from what’s left of the forest.  Because most of the forests are gone, many of the animals are gone—or soon to be—unless something changes pretty quickly. Which is terrible, because most of the animals in Madagascar only found in Madagascar and nowhere else on earth. These animals are also unimaginably strange and magnificent—beetles with necks like giraffes, primates that look more like great leaping Muppets than monkeys. And all of the strange magnificence that is barely clinging to life on this island is just a fraction of what used to exist not too long ago. In the last few hundred years, the world lost a grass eating crocodile, enormous elephant birds, and all kinds of crazy giant lemurs.

Giraffe necked weevil (beetle). Photo by Travis Steffens

I had dreamt of working in Madagascar for years. Watching the city wake up on my first morning there was surreal. One thing I remember about that first morning was hearing the dogs. They start barking just before dawn and they’re everywhere. Occasionally, I would see dogs with a family herding their cows or working in the rice fields, but overwhelmingly the dogs in Madagascar are strays.

And these strays roam into what remains of the forest, eating what they can find. And unfortunately, what they find are incredibly rare species that are barely clinging to survival and are found nowhere else on earth.  In addition to being devastating to wildlife, these dogs are also incredibly intelligent, and have an amazing capacity for loyalty and love. This is what I learned firsthand when I met Matavy.

One day I was out, as usual, following some lemurs around the forest. And out of nowhere a dog came bounding through the forest, heading straight for me. Since my study lemurs were resting, I was sitting on the ground at the time. Now, like most feral dogs anywhere on earth, stray dogs in Madagascar tend to be shy around humans. So at first I was sure he was going to attack me. I froze. What happened next is a moment I will never forget. As I sat there, frozen, waiting for this powerful animal to start ripping me apart and trying to figure out how I was going to survive it, the dog came right up to me and put his head in my lap.

After the shock wore off I realized that he was gazing up at me. His body was in bad condition—he was emaciated, covered in bites and scars, and missing an eye. Perhaps it was the relief I felt. Perhaps it was the old human-dog connection that is hard-wired into us. Whatever it was, I knew in that moment that there was no way this dog was being left behind to fend for his life with his one good eye.

Kim and Matavy in Madagascar, Photo Credit Mad Dog Initiative

So we took him in and we named him Matavy. And when I left the country seven months later he was on the plane back to Canada with me, where he now shares a house and a yard with the amazing woman who adopted him, and charms every dog and person he meets.

This amazing animal, and all the other dogs like him inspired me to start a project called the Mad Dog Initiative. MDI aims to protect local wildlife populations through the spaying and neutering of strays while also providing medical care and rescue to them when necessary. I am currently raising funds to embark on the first MDI expedition this June.

To learn more about the Mad Dog Initiative, visit https://www.facebook.com/MadDogInitiative

Madagascar Memories: Dr. Keriann McGoogan

Madagascar Memories

Planet Madagascar is excited to present our new blog series, “Madagascar Memories.” We have asked people from all walks of life who have visited Madagascar to share with us some of their most memorable Madagascar moments and to remind us why it is so important to work to conserve the biodiversity to help the people living in this amazing country.

This week’s installment comes from Dr. Keriann McGoogan who completed her PhD studying edge effects on the behaviour and ecology of an endangered lemur species in NW Madagascar.

Lunching with Lemurs by Keriann McGoogan

In 2008, I embarked on what would be a 14-month trip to Madagascar to conduct my PhD research. I was there to study the impact of habitat loss, and particularly of edges (areas between forest and clearings) on an endangered lemur species in Ankarafantsika National Park in Northwest of Madagascar. Some of you may recognize my study species as “Zooboomafoo” (go ahead…google that name), but its real name is Coquerel’s sifaka, or Propithecus coquereli if you want to get scientific.

The fourteen months that I spent in Madagascar were some of the best in my life and there are so many highlights that I could share. But, if I had to choose one particular memory, it would be the day I “lunched with the lemurs.”

It was a hot, humid day in September and I was trekking through the sandy soils of the dry forest, following one of my study groups. Three times a week, I would wake up before dawn, locate a group of sifakas in the forest with the help of handheld radios and my research team, and follow the group until dusk. It had been a particularly active day for this group of seven (three females, two males, and two juveniles)—they had engaged in a lot of feeding and moving from tree to tree early in the day. By about 11am, though, the group settled down to rest and digest in a particularly dense area of forest, far removed from the trail system.

All had quieted down in the forest except for the sound of the birds chirping and the wind blowing through the forest canopy. I continued to watch the lemur group in their state of inactivity. As I stood there, my stomach grumbled. It was nearing lunch hour, so I pulled out my sandwich and took a seat in a shady area on the forest floor, the group about 2-meters away in a tree, still in full view. The sun was beating down—it was hot.

As I sat munching on my lunch, the group members began to move lower in the tree, presumably to take advantage of some of the shade lower down.

Slowly, slowly, the sifakas moved lower.

And lower still.

Soon, three of the adults were sitting directly on the forest floor, arms and legs wrapped loosely around a tree trunk, a mere 2-meters away from where I was sitting! Chills went down my spine and I laughed out loud. There I was in Madagascar, having a picnic with a group of sifakas. Unforgettable.

Community-Led Total Sanitation in Madagascar

Lying on my back, the hot Madagascar sun beating down on me. Waiting. Waiting for the water to be ready to drink. 

So. Thirsty.

Madagascar, October 2011. I was volunteering for my husband Travis Steffens’ PhD research project on the impacts of habitat fragmentation on lemur species in northwest Madagascar. We had set up camp nearby some patches of forest where Travis was conducting his research. Although we were close to forest, and potentially lemurs, we were not close to a water source—the nearest water source was approximately 5 kilometers away, in a small village called Andranahobaka.

Clearly, to live and work near these fragments, we needed a water solution. Travis ultimately arranged to have our water brought in via a zebu cart (zebu are domesticated, humpbacked cattle). Every three days, one of three different men from the village would fill our jerry cans with 200 liters of water, and drive the zebu cart full of water to our camp. 

Great, problem solved, right? Well, almost.

The catch was, that water was not potable. Our “water delivery man” would fill up our containers from their village water source, yes, but if we were to drink that water as is, we would almost certainly become very ill because the village, like many of its kind in Madagascar, has no central toilet, and open defecation is common.

To make that water ready to drink, we had to run it through a gravity filter, add a purification solution, and then wait a half hour (sometimes on our backs in the hot, hot sun). We never got sick from our treated the water, but unfortunately we witnessed many of the local villagers who drink that same, but untreated water, on a daily basis suffer from very preventable diseases, a consequence of a lack of  effective sanitation.

In 2008, at the Stockholm World Water Week the President of Madagascar announced that 63.2% of the population of Madagascar lacked access to potable water, and 73.7% of the population lacked access to sanitation. According to wateraid.org, over 4000 children in Madagascar die every year from diarrhea caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation. It is clear that something needs to be done.

Traditional investments in sanitation have been targeted at individual households, and often involve installing toilets and implementing education programs that highlight the importance of using those toilets (Robinson 2006). However, these types of conventional hygiene interventions are often too formal, and take a more negative “this is what you are doing wrong” approach, that can be ineffective (Robinson 2006). That’s why organizations like Azafady in Madagascar are turning to Community-Led Total sanitation (CLTS).

CLTS is an innovative method that is designed to inspire communities to take action to become “open defecation free.” Robinson (2006) highlights several ways in which CLTS differs from traditional sanitation projects:

1. It focuses on stopping open defecation, rather than simply building toilets.
2. It highlights the need for collective action from the community.
3. There is no toilet subsidy—each household finances their own toilets.
4. It promotes low-cost homemade toilets constructed using local materials.

These techniques help communities feel ownership for their facilities (Robinson 2006), and pride in the work that they did to implement their own sanitation program.

In Madagascar, Azafady, an award-winning British registered charity partnered with an independent Malagasy NGO, is piloting a CLTS program. With “Project Magnampy,” Azafady is mobilizing communities to eliminate open defecation through participatory and interactive tools. The goal of this project is to eliminate open defecation, increase access to potable water, and thus facilitate a long-term behavioural change in sanitation practices within several Malagasy communities.

Today, I sit in my Toronto apartment, where I can walk over and fill up my glass with pristine water any time I want. However, after my experience in Madagascar, now every time I walk over to the tap, I appreciate the clean water, and I think about the villagers in Madagascar who continue to drink water that is making them ill.

This October, Travis Steffens will return to Madagascar, where he and other Planet Madagascar team members will visit the Azafady CLTS project. In the near future, we hope to implement a similar project in communities in northwest Madagascar.

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Can Lemurs Tell Us Why Males Die Younger?

Male mammals typically die sooner than females. Why is that? Researchers in Madagascar are asking this very question. Recently published in the Journal of Behavioral Ecology a team of researchers studying Milne Edwards sifaka may have discovered why males of this species die so much younger than females. 

Milne-Edwards’ sifaka are a large dark lemur that lives in the tropical wet forests of eastern Madagascar. This large lemur spends much of its day consuming leaves and resting. However, they are no slouch when it comes to moving. These species employ a fantastic form of locomotion called vertical clinging and leaping. To move through the forest they spring off a large tree with powerful and especially long legs. As they fly through the air they turn to land on the next tree. As the make contact their body compresses and they shoot off that tree to the next - like a pinball they bounce through the forest. Some sifaka species can breach horizontal gaps between trees as large as 8m (26 feet)!

There are many hypothesis as to why males tend to die off quicker than females. Tecot et al. (2013) describe a few which include the "high risk, high gain" hypothesis which states that males engage in more risky behaviours such as competition for mates or dispersal which increase mortality than females. Imagine lemurs in a bar fight!  There is the "fragile male" hypothesis which suggests that males and females have different developmental strategies with males having for example faster growth rates leading to higher mortality as juveniles - especially in times of resource scarcity. This evokes images of male teenagers growing like sky scrapers all while trying to keep up through incredible consumption of food. While females may employ their own strategies like the "live slow, die old" hypothesis which predicts that females actually slow down development in response to increase resource unpredictability and in some cases females may not even reproduce during times of resource scarcity.

Male and female Milne-Edwards' sifaka are roughly the same size and weight, which is particularly unusual for group living primates - but not so for lemurs as many lemur species show little to no sexual dimorphism (differences in size between sexes). Like many lemur species females are dominant. Both sexes leave their natal group (disperse). However, males in this species continue to secondarily disperse long after maturity. Growth rates between the sexes of this species are very similar as are levels of testosterone. Based on their life history one might expect that males and females have the same mortality based on the above hypotheses.

Tecot et al. (2013), determined that male and female mortality were virtually the same until 18 years of age. At this point males became very likely to die while females of this age were more likely to live into their 30's. They suggest that because males engage in "risky" behaviour through adulthood by continuing to disperse while females remained within their group resulted in higher males mortality. It seems that for this species the most likely reason for increased mortality is that males perform more risky behaviour through adulthood than females. 

Research like this is fundamental to our understanding of many fascinating aspects of evolution and opens doors to more questions such as why do males disperse more during adulthood than females? 

To find out more check out the original article referenced below and stay tuned for more interesting reads on the Planet Madagascar blog. You can follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

​Tecot, Stacey R., et al. "Risky business: sex differences in mortality and dispersal in a polygynous, monomorphic lemur." 
Behavioral Ecology

 (2013).