Durrell’s Madagascar programme: looking backwards and forwards

Every year, Durrell’s Madagascar team comes together for a week long workshop to review progress of the conservation programme and to agree objectives and activities for the following year. This time the meeting is in the capital Antananarivo, and 28 of the team consisting of the programme leaders, project scientists and co-ordinators, administrators, as well as new recruit Lance Woolaver, and Richard Young from headquarters, have been examining projects in fine detail and vigorously debating strategies for future efforts to conserve our target species and ecosystems.

The past months have been an extremely difficult time for Madagascar resulting from political unrest and the associated demonstrations, violence and limited functioning of government. However, although the political crisis has invariably affected Durrell’s activities, and the wider conservation effort in Madagascar, the team is determined that its impact is minimal as possible. The programme has achieved much over the past year with some notable successes being highlighted at the meeting:

• Significant progress has been made towards the establishment of 3 new protected areas, Tsimembo, Ambondrobe and Nosivolo, to conserve wetlands, forests and rivers and their dependent species. The Nosivolo river system is notably important as it supports the highest concentration of endemic freshwater fish in Madagascar, all of which are considered at the highest risk of extinction.

• Positive news from one of our flagship projects, conservation of the Menabe dry forest, with two species endemic to this site, the giant jumping rat and flat-tailed tortoise, showing increasing or stable populations after years of decline. This forest is now protected by the new Menabe Antimena protected area, and work has been progressing well to develop its management plan including officially engaging the local communities in its management.

• Through support from Jersey Overseas Aid and our partner Conservation International, we have implemented a range of new human livelihood development projects in four of our sites, Lac Alaotra, Baly Bay, Menabe and Nosivolo, to reduce the human pressures on these important habitats and a range of our target species including, among others, gentle lemurs, forest tortoises and waterbirds.

• A number of the programme’s conservation scientists continue to develop their skills and experiences. We now have two of our colleagues pursuing PhDs, with another receiving a scholarship to attend a post-graduate diploma course at the University of Oxford.

• After the rediscovery of the ‘extinct’ Madagascar Pochard, we are now ready to start a captive breeding programme for this species. With only around 20 individuals left, this is one of the most endangered birds on the planet and action is urgently needed.

Despite these successes, a number of serious challenges to our goals remain and in some cases have increased in severity. The issue of most pressing concern is the recent rise in illegal trafficking of the ploughshare tortoise, probably the rarest tortoise in the world, putting this animal in real danger of extinction in the wild. Given the political crisis, and economic problems that are likely to ensue in Madagascar, the year ahead is going to be a challenging one for the programme and team. However, there are opportunities also – such as the potential increase in funding for biodiversity conservation through schemes seeking to reduce carbon emissions by stopping deforestation – and the feeling in the team as the meeting came to a close was that it is more vital than ever to press ahead with our projects. But the meeting wasn’t quite all work and we found time to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Durrell, and to raise a glass to another 50 years.

Moving forward into 2010, the main priorities for the Madagascar conservation programme are to continue to support the management of existing and the newly designated protected areas, and empower and incentivise local communities to sustainably manage their natural environment. A number of intensive species focussed actions will be implemented to ensure the pressures on our most threatened animals are reduced and their chances of survival increased. For example, a Species Action Plan for the ploughshare tortoise has now been produced to engage local, national and international support and co-ordinate actions to increase anti-poaching measures, ensure its habitat is more strongly protected, and establish further captive assurance populations.

Through new research and training programmes, we also aim to improve the quality of our conservation science, and conservations scientists, to ensure the best information is available with which to manage species and habitats. But we also want to get better at evaluating the outcomes of our projects so in the coming months we will work with colleagues at HQ to develop systems and indicators to allow us to better measure and demonstrate our impact. It’s an ambitious programme of activities, but it needs to be to meet the challenges we face. The ecosystems in which we work are very valuable - they support many unique and threatened species, and provide benefits such as fresh water, food and fuel to the local people whom live nearby – but these places are vulnerable, and they need our help.