Golden crowned sifaka in the SAVA region

Dear valued friend and supporter,

We are so grateful for your generosity and continued giving to make our dreams of lemur conservation possible. Whether at our Duke campus in the United States or in Madagascar, your contributions make all of our efforts possible.

We’re excited to share the latest updates from our Madagascar Programs. In the northeast SAVA region, our team continues to forge strong partnerships with grassroots interest groups who are at the forefront of lemur conservation in the wild. We support over 40 staff from Madagascar working full time to find sustainable solutions for conservation challenges.

Highlights over the last months include mobilizing stewardship advisory councils, who are leading the development of conservation projects that meet their needs and our global commitments to biodiversity. These projects include sustainable agriculture and animal husbandry, which improve livelihoods and decrease the need for natural resources from the forest.

We met with partners from multiple sectors to understand the ways in which different institutions are addressing environmental challenges and how we can improve in the future. And last, but not least, we commemorated World Lemur Day with three different events that brought together over 1,000 people to learn about and celebrate lemurs! Enjoy these updates before the holidays, and please keep our Madagascar Conservation programs in mind for your end-of-year giving!

With appreciation,

James Herrera

Director of Conservation

Duke Lemur Center

Just published research led by the DLC evaluating the efficacy of agricultural interventions in northeast Madagascar is online in Sustainability. Read James's article summarizing the study that shows that simple, hands-on training in gardening and chicken husbandry is transforming livelihoods in rural Madagascar—especially for women. 

Five new stewardship advisory councils were created to co-manage projects, mobilizing participatory research to identify what works best for communities and collaborate on the next steps. Over 300 people were empowered to lead a new phase of rural development.

Committees break into subgroups to discuss the goals and plan strategies for conservation

Over 100 farmers in four communities received 400 chickens and materials to kick-start their new flocks. Members in our poultry husbandry program were trained, neighbors built hen houses together, and all received the materials to start their journey.

Farmers receiving chickens and items for animal husbandry

600 farmers received high quality seeds including corn, beans, peanuts, plants used for biofertilizers, arabica coffee, and forest trees for shade.

Farmers receiving seeds to grow cops they can consume themselves or use to generate income

Fish farmers are adapting to climate change through solidarity. With increasing temperatures and droughts, fish farmers in our network are watching their ponds evaporate. Despite the challenges, they found resilience together: they collected their fish and stocked the ponds of members who have reliable water throughout the year. Once the rainy season comes, they will redistribute the fish to each member. This shows how we can adapt to the challenges to come through community engagement and empowerment, leading to greater resilience and success.

While some ponds are going dry, those that have stable water sources are sustaining the fish farmers throughout the drought

2,000 people engaged in landscape restoration maintenance and preparation. Community members earned income by clearing firebreaks, adding compost, mulch, and shade, as well as cutting invasive weeds and, of course, digging holes.

Tree planting

We engaged multiple partners to co-host enriching experiences focused on youth education. With events in 3 out of 4 districts that make up the SAVA region, we reached almost 1,000 people. One school group of over 30 students visited a nature reserve to learn about lemurs and forest conservation. A rural village in the north held a parade and educational events with almost 300 participants, and another village in the west celebrated with more than 500 people! Watch a recording of the livestream of World Lemur Day!

World Lemur Day events in the SAVA region

We hosted representatives from the Ministries of Health and Environment, Madagascar National Park, Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF), Wildlife Conservation Society, and others to visit project sites, meet with local actors, and experience a snapshot of the impact of DLC programs.

Conservation interest groups from around the world gathered to discuss how we can better protect lemurs and wildlife

Environmental education reached almost 500 students in five different communities. After learning about the importance of the environment, students and teachers worked together to clean up the schoolyard and create rubbish pits and compost piles. This is the first step towards micro projects like school gardens, fruit orchards, and fish ponds.

Environmental educator Evrard teaching in a local school

The women's reproductive health mobile clinic served over 300 women in the last 2 months, including several new communities that have never received such services in the past. Encouragingly, we've seen rapid change in the willingness of new participants to speak about sensitive topics; five times as many women are receiving services now compared to 5 years ago.

The mobile health clinic in action!

See Dr. James Herrera's article about recent research that lemurs are being consumed as "luxury meat," in addition to local subsistence: An Emerging Threat to Lemur Conservation, the luxury wildlife meat trade in urban centers. 

Read about the DLC's ex-situ conservation initiatives and our emergency response to advance the care of confiscated lemurs in Madagascar.

We are grateful to our dedicated network of Lemur Center supporters. If you'd like to make a gift to our Madagascar Programs, please click below.

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