Louise Shirley
Report on being a Research Assistant in Madagascar
with The Society for Environmental Exploration (Frontier).
Background
Frontier is a non-profit conservation and development NGO working to safeguarding
biodiversity and ecosystem integrity. They also aim to support marginalised
communities in the countries their projects are based in.
Frontier-Madagascar is a collaboration between the Society for Environmental
Exploration and the Institut Halieutique et des Sciences Marine (IHSM) of the
University of Toliara.
Madagascar displays massive evolutionary convergence; having been an island for
120 million years, its mammals evolved along very different lines from anywhere
else. To witness such a combination of species richness and endemism was the
experience of a lifetime.
Support from The Arthur Hosier/Meyer Sassoon Award Fund and the School of
Biological Sciences at the University of Reading enabled me to work as a Research
Assistant with Frontier for August 2008, on a project entitled Forest and Lemur
Conservation. This was based in the Montagne de Franςais area of Northern
Madagascar.
The Experience
I joined a group of 10 volunteer Research Assistants
and 3 staff members at a camp to the Northern tip of
Madagascar. The nearest town was Antsiranana, from
which we had a 3 hour hike to reach the camp site.
The main aims of the project are to determine the
conservation importance of secondary forest
fragments, particularly their function as wildlife
corridors. If they are proven to support significant
diversity of flora and fauna, this will hopefully lead to
their protection. With the dramatic decline of forests
in Madagascar (which are of critical/endangered
conservation status) these fragments are thought to be
increasingly important for the continued existence of
much of the mammalian diversity on the island. We
were also studying the impacts of disturbance of
Louise Shirley
different species.
Each day we conducted abundance and
distribution surveys in the surrounding forest
using a range of techniques. We mapped
vegetation, disturbance and resource-use in
the area. We also set pitfall and Sherman
traps, did sweep-netting for butterflies and
dragonflies, bat monitoring, bird watches,
active searches (usually at night) for
amphibians and reptiles, and measured and
recorded everything we found to form a comprehensive database.
I had limited knowledge of herpetology, so this was an invaluable opportunity to gain
experience. This was supported by a collection of science journals and specialist
reference books which were very useful for
identification.
I found Melantis ledahelena, a species of
butterfly which had never been recorded in
the area before.
We also studied mammal populations.
Malagasy native
land
animals
are
predominately forest dwellers. Lemurs lived
beside our camp and most nights I went to
sleep, under a blanket of stars, to the sound of
them grunting above my hammock. They
tend to be very primitive animals but one
night, a lemur climbed down one of the
jackfruit trees until he reached head height,
two meters away from me. We stared at each other for a long time. It was very
moving, and absolutely unforgettable.
We were also involved with the nearest village and explained our work to them. We
learnt some Malagasy and I taught a few lessons at the school, covering subjects such
as food chains and forest ecology. The children and many of the adults were surprised
to hear that lemurs are endemic to Madagascar. I now appreciate our education
system- in England it’s a right, and it tends to be taken for granted. In Madagascar it’s
very different; the school had one teacher, and no books, but the children seemed to
appreciate their classes. We also held ‘Environment Day’, a fête in their schoolyard to
raise awareness of various environmental issues. The entire village was invited. We
made posters, games, a model to demonstrate the water cycle, and others to
Louise Shirley
communicate the impacts of overpopulation, river pollution and deforestation. We
also built the village beehives so that they can produce, and hopefully sell, their own
honey.
I spoke to students of Diego University, who told me about their culture and beliefs
which was very interesting.
Camp life was very basic; we baked bread for breakfast and ate rice and beans for
lunch and dinner every day. We collected drinking water from a local stream.
This experience has lent me a more realistic view of several conservation issues.
Deforestation is a massive problem in Madagascar, which I witness first-hand. An
area we had been studying one day had been cleared by the time we re-visited it the
following week. Flying over the country, the landscape looked incredibly barren. It
looked like African plains, but without the wildlife. Only 10% of original forest cover
remains and it was a haunting sight (see photo below);
I also saw the great quantity of wood required to sustain a family. Seeing all of these
things has made me appreciate the complexity of the issues conservationists face.
Overpopulation is a root problem, but one that is very difficult to address.
Working in Madagascar has confirmed for me that I want to work in conservation. I
also feel that it has made me a more focused and observant person. I have come away
with many practical skills and a deeper understanding I would not otherwise have had.
It has also made me truly appreciate the standard of living and education in England.
Closing comments
Louise Shirley
I would like to express deep gratitude to the Selection Committee for awarding me the
Arthur Hosier/Meyer Sassoon Award, without which my trip would not have been
possible. I also really appreciate the support from The School of Biological Sciences,
specifically Professor Nick Battey and Dr. Mark Fellowes. Madagascar has the
greatest number of critically endangered primates of any country in the World, and to
have an opportunity to join the effort to protect them was a great honour. My time
there altered my perspective on life, and my future career plans, dramatically.