International Dimension
Expedition to Madagascar
After the successful expedition to Honduras in 2011
with Operation Wallacea, we decided venture further
afield to the iconic biodiversity hospot of Madagascar
for the our 2014 expedition. This entailed working in the
Mahamavo forests (at Mariarano and Matsedroy camps)
collecting data on carbon, biodiversity and community
economics of the dry forests to aid conservation efforts.
Then we travelled to the island of Nosy Be to complete
a dive-training course and learn about marine surveying
techniques, and to learn about Indian Ocean reef ecology,
such as opportunistic counts and stereo video to measure
the health of the reef.
Alan Hartigan
leaving the local village
local fruit seller
lemur comes for a snack
Arriving in Madagascar the change in culture was instant.
Once we had exchange our currency we left the airport all with
100,000s of Ariary in our pockets, feeling rather rich.
Exploring Tana was like no other city we had ever seen before -
the streets were full of life and all the stores along the road were
covered in raw meat, sitting in the sun. It was full of sights of
extreme poverty, yet the locals always seemed to be smiling.
In camp, one group did a Lemur walk using head torches to spot
the tiny little mouse lemurs which seemed to be everywhere
with pairs of bright eyes looking at us from the dark trees. The
others went on a Herpetology (chameleons, geckos, snakes and
frogs) walk, getting the chance to hold a large Tree Boa.
As our group headed down the track to try and find this boa we
were suddenly interrupted by the pounding noise of charging
Mariarano (days 1 – 6)
Salame
(
hello
in Malagasy)
zebu, and they were heading straight for us, with this we all
dived into the hedges for safety, our first encounter with Zebu
was definitely memorable and we had been told they are
probably the most dangerous things out here.
The next morning our conservation work begun. We learnt loads
on this walk, recognising the familiar distinctive calls of the
birds of prey and the Malagasy Paradise Flycatchers and the
vibrant colours of the Sounimaga Sunbird (Africas equivalent to
the hummingbirds of South America).
Heading back to the camp, we waved as usual to the village
people.
Salam, salame or veloma
for goodbye. Then, back at
camp, we had a surprise visit from a troop of Coquerel’s Sifaka,
probably the most common lemur that we saw, who loved
coming into our camp to say hello and munch on some leaves.
Here we spotted the legendary Baobab trees, huge Swallowtail
butterflies and, of course, the obligatory lemurs, chameleons
and snakes slithered cross our path several times. The resident
lemurs here were the brown lemurs but those sharp KEVICC
eyes did spot a Forked Lemur on one transect survey and the
lemur scientist got very excited indeed by this rare spot!!
The bird surveys here were rich in species – highlights included
the Cuckoo Roller and hearing about the use of its bones by
local Malagasy in witch doctor ceremonies.
Matsedroy (days 7 – 9)
After qualifying as underwater scuba divers, we tested our skills
and began surveying on the damaged reef. Quadrats were placed
along a transect to measure the distribution and abundance
of species within the area – using them underwater for 'real'
science was pretty cool. Each day we had ‘eco lectures’ and we
went to Tani-Keli, a protected island that cannot be fished or
exploited by locals, and tourists are only allowed between 9am
and 3pm. The protection of the reef meant that, compared with
Nosy Be, the reef was teeming with life. Our work was to help
conservation efforts to restore the reef to the pristine conditions
found at Tan-Keli and we were glad we had contributed.
students Larissa Connabeer, Matthew Hartridge, Joe Small and Francesca White write:
Nose Be - diving (days 10 – 17)
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