Lemur conservation expedition in Madagascar
| country: | Madagascar |
| departures: | 2008: 11 Oct |
| price: | From £1400 fundraised (4 weeks) - £2200 fundraised (8 weeks) excluding flights. We can arrange flights from the UK |
the amazing things you'll be doing
Looking for a wildlife experience like no other?
Then join us in Madagascar and help to conserve charismatic lemur species found nowhere else on earth. Set in the Indian Ocean off the east coast of Africa, Madagascar is the world's fourth largest island and is recognised as one of the planet's top conservation priorities. Lemur Venture is a very special programme that offers a unique opportunity to make a significant contribution towards helping some of the world's most threatened and remarkable creatures.
On Lemur Venture you will be working with Parc Botanique et Zoologique de Tsimbazaza, the national botanical and zoological gardens of Madagascar, to discover more about lemurs and their natural habitat in support of international conservation efforts. You will train initially alongside the PBZT team before heading out to the field to study wild lemurs with a grassroots NGO. Lemur Venture's special focus is on gathering information on several lemur species in order to improve success rates of captive breeding programmes both in Madagascar and around the world.
The research sites selected for Lemur Venture will give you a real insight into the amazing diversity of Malagasy landscape, from the south's dry spiny desert, to the rainforest-ringed beauty of Fort Dauphin, to the wet coastal forests of the littoral forest zone.
No special skills are needed as the team at Parc Tsimbazaza will lead you through the orientation process when you arrive in Madagascar, giving you an introduction to primates, their care and conservation, as well as a solid grounding in the work to be done over the next four or eight weeks. While practical and research experience is welcome, enthusiasm and cultural sensitivity are a must.
Then join us in Madagascar and help to conserve charismatic lemur species found nowhere else on earth. Set in the Indian Ocean off the east coast of Africa, Madagascar is the world's fourth largest island and is recognised as one of the planet's top conservation priorities. Lemur Venture is a very special programme that offers a unique opportunity to make a significant contribution towards helping some of the world's most threatened and remarkable creatures.
On Lemur Venture you will be working with Parc Botanique et Zoologique de Tsimbazaza, the national botanical and zoological gardens of Madagascar, to discover more about lemurs and their natural habitat in support of international conservation efforts. You will train initially alongside the PBZT team before heading out to the field to study wild lemurs with a grassroots NGO. Lemur Venture's special focus is on gathering information on several lemur species in order to improve success rates of captive breeding programmes both in Madagascar and around the world.
The research sites selected for Lemur Venture will give you a real insight into the amazing diversity of Malagasy landscape, from the south's dry spiny desert, to the rainforest-ringed beauty of Fort Dauphin, to the wet coastal forests of the littoral forest zone.
No special skills are needed as the team at Parc Tsimbazaza will lead you through the orientation process when you arrive in Madagascar, giving you an introduction to primates, their care and conservation, as well as a solid grounding in the work to be done over the next four or eight weeks. While practical and research experience is welcome, enthusiasm and cultural sensitivity are a must.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Arrive in Antananarivo. Settle into hotel. First night welcome dinner with staff. |
| Day 2-5: | Volunteers will work in Parc Zoologique et Botanique de Tsimbazaza taking part in PBZT's latest initiatives geared towards the study and maintenance of lemur populations, aiding with its captive breeding programmes, and doing practical work such as assisting with feeding and caring for the animals, while being fully briefed on the work of PBZT and how captive breeding aids conservation. All volunteers will have the opportunity to visit the famous and elusive aye-aye, in the specially constructed nocturnal aye-aye house. |
| Day 6: | Transfer to Fort Dauphin. A quick air transfer and a little time to set up in the beautiful lake-side camp at Lanirano before orientation in and around Fort Dauphin. |
| Day 7-10: | Orientation. . Detailed orientation on rural Madagascar, the Anosy region, local customs, and an in-depth introduction to the work that you will be doing over the next 3/7 weeks. Projects are determined in consultation with PBZT staff and will be subject to change. However, field projects are likely to focus on one or more of the following: lemur behaviour, feeding ecology, conservation biology, population censusing, home range studies, community natural resource management and habitat management. |
| Day 11-32: | These weeks will be spent in the fragmented littoral forests north of Fort Dauphin focusing on lemur species including the collared brown lemur (Eulemur collaris), woolly lemur (Avahi laniger) and the brown mouse lemur (Microcebus rufus). |
| Day 33-37: | There will be a break of four to five days back at Lanirano, to enable you to write up your work, do your post, emailing, dining out if you wish, shopping, and having a break from the routine of the bush. |
| Day 38-56: | The final three weeks of field work will be spent in the spiny desert of the southeast, focusing on sifaka (Propithecus verreauxi) and the ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta), known locally as "maki". Other smaller nocturnal species are also present. This is an amazing place of extraordinary beauty, with ancient forests full of wildlife. |
volunteer travel - what's it all about?
Are you are looking for an adventurous trip with a purpose, or on a gap year or career break? If you want to make a difference in some of the world’s most important conservation areas - and in community projects - then volunteer trips are for you! Volunteers tend to have a sense of adventure, and come from a range of different backgrounds and from all over the world. Edward Abbey said 'sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul'.
award winner how this holiday makes a difference
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This project is run by a registered charity that has been working on environmental, humanitarian and sustainable development projects in southeast Madagascar since 1995. Where possible and practical, we use only locally owned and operated suppliers and employs local people as guides to lead our groups of volunteers. We ensure that our suppliers are supplying us with quality goods that have been sourced / grown locally wherever possible (with regard to food products). Our local guides and staff are in full time employment with contracts, are treated as equals, paid a fair wage and not given an unreasonable workload.
 We are aware that wherever we go we are having an impact on the environment. We endeavour to minimize this impact and engage in projects that not only make the environment sustainable but contribute to improving it. When visiting villages, group sizes are determined by what is appropriate to the area we are visiting and the job that we are doing. Use of motorised transport is kept to the minimum and we use public transport where possible. We ask volunteers to use water sparingly and respect the needs of local people at water collection points. We ensure animals are never fed or touched unless to do so is part of an organised visit to a park or other managed environment. We suggest volunteers avoid accepting plastic bags for everything in shops and we provide water to refill plastic bottles. We separate our waste for re-use or composting. In the forest we use trails where they exist and disperse to prevent the creation of new trails when entering pristine areas. We use only farmed wood and we educate local people on the reasons for this. Camp-fires for 'ambience' are not allowed. Camping areas are selected in consultation with local people and in most cases are 'gifts' from the community; they rested for at least 6 weeks between visits. We plan volunteer programs in a way which maximizes the opportunity to meet and work alongside local people, learn about the local culture and experience the local way of life. We teach our volunteers to speak the local dialect of the Malagasy language and provide orientation to present a balanced view of the country, the people, our work and local culture and traditions, religion, body language and eating habits before any volunteer visits the field. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |