Community members planting seeds in an Antanetiambo tree nursery. Photo by Nicholas Reed-Krase
December 5, 2013 — Since its inception in Spring 2012, the Duke Lemur Center’s SAVA Conservation project has been supporting reforestation in a part of Madagascar where the trees are hardest hit.
Satellite-based monitoring indicates that forest disturbance in Madagascar more than doubled in the period between July and September 2013, compared to the same period in 2012. The satellite data still need to be confirmed on the ground to determine the extent and nature of the disturbance, but northeastern Madagascar appeared to be a deforestation hotspot.
One of SAVA Conservation’s first actions was to enter into a reforestation collaboration agreementwith the Belgian non-governmental organizationGraine de Vie, which has been working for several years on reforestation in the SAVA region. SAVA Conservation agreed to support three village tree nurseries and subsequent reforestation at sites in the Marojejy National Park peripheral zone. SAVA Conservation staff monitor the progress of the nurseries and have input into the species of trees planted.
In addition, SAVA Conservation is helping support Antanetiambo Nature Reserve, which is comprised of partially cleared land that is currently being reforested.
“Returning trees to the landscape is important, but the deepest value of reforestation is as a teaching tool to change mentalities about forests, and to pass along knowledge on wise management of forest resources,” writes Lemur Center Conservation Coordinator Charlie Welch.
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Mosaic of forest and cleared land. Photo by Dr. Erik Patel
Learn more about the Duke Lemur Center’s work on conservation projects in Madagascar — tree nurseries, fish farms, alternative fuel, and more — in the winter 2013 issue of Duke Magazine:http://www.dukemagazine.duke.edu/article/building-partnerships-madagascar
The majority of SAVA Conservation’s project support comes from people like you! If you’d like to help the multi-faceted conservation work the Duke Lemur Center is doing on the ground in Madagascar, please click here and designate your donation to “SAVA Conservation.”
Pat Massard has an M.S. in Library & Information Studies from Florida State. During the day, she works as a staff assistant in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology at Duke. She has been volunteering at the Duke Lemur Center in a number of capacities since 2011.
