A large island nation (bigger than California or France) off the southeast coast of Africa, Madagascar is one of the world’s hottest biodiversity hotspots, and the only place where lemurs are found naturally.
From LCF’s office in the SAVA region of northeastern Madagascar, staff work with conservation partners and communities bordering protected lemur habitats. Our work focuses on Marojejy National Park and Anjanaharibe-Sud Special Reserve (ASSR), together spanning 320 square miles of mountainous rainforests. Dr. Erik Patel, LCF’s Conservation & Research Director, manages our field conservation programs, traveling to Madagascar twice each year.
The “Marojejy protected area complex”, is one of the largest and least disturbed rainforest landscapes in Madagascar. Marojejy has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its exceptional biodiversity and elevational range. Due to its unique elevational range (75 – 2132m), Marojejy harbors enormous botanical diversity including 1302 plant species of which 84 are only found in Marojejy. Fauna are equally remarkable with 84 reptile species, the highest of any protected area in Madagascar. Also present are 119 bird species, 74 amphibian species, 21 species of tenrecs, and 11 lemur species including the Critically Endangered silky sifaka (Propithecus candidus).
Our recent short film “Conservation Across Continents” reviews our Madagascar Programs: https://vimeo.com/917958630
Our recent publication in the American Journal of Primatology also reviews our programs : https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ajp.23483
LCF is leading lemur conservation efforts in the SAVA region in the following ways.
Overnight student fieldtrips to the rainforest
Educating Madagascar’s next generation of conservationists
Professional GIS training Increasing technical capacity for research/monitoring
Reforestation
Restoring lemur habitat
Fuel-efficient cook stoves
Decreasing dependence on the rainforest
Public health initiatives
Providing voluntary family planning
Ecotourism infrastructure
Rebuilding Marojejy and ASSR’s camp sites
Forest monitoring
Removing lemur bushmeat traps
Lemur population surveys
Improving estimates of silky sifaka population size
Madagascar’s Challenges
Although stunningly rich in biodiversity, Madagascar is also exceptionally poor in almost every quality-of-life measure tracked by the United Nations and World Bank. Population is exploding, and most Malagasy live on less than $1 per day.
Poverty and political instability have undermined Madagascar’s environmental management. Slash and burn agriculture, selective logging of precious wood (rosewood and ebony), and fuel wood harvesting has accelerated deforestation and erosion, which in turn has altered microclimates, leading to droughts, forest fires, and soil degradation. Bushmeat hunting of lemurs has also increased in recent years due to insufficient patrols, a lack of alternative protein sources in rural villages as well as the emergence of a commercial bushmeat trade.
LCF conservation programs on the ground in Madagascar are helping to protect lemurs and their habitat while employing many local residents.
Partnerships
Lemur Surveys at Berenty Reserve: For more than 10 years, the late Dr. Alison Jolly and her family have supported an annual ring-tailed lemur and Verreaux’s sifaka census at Berenty, which is the very first site in Madagascar where lemur research began. Dr. Hanta Rasamimanana led these surveys for many years with students from École Normale Supérieur (ENS). In 2024, her former student Santatra Rindra Santatriniaina began a new five year census program.
Wildlife Madagascar: In 2023, LCF invited Wildlife Madagascar to assist in patrols, research, and conservation programming in Anjanaharibe-Sud Special Reserve (ASSR). Wildlife Madagascar has a new office in Andapa and very quickly have become leading researchers in the region, one of several sites where they work in Madagascar.
Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS): LCF collaborates with WCS on silky sifaka monitoring at the Simpona Lodge site near Andaparaty, and other projects.
Missouri Botanical Garden (MBG): Each year LCF purchases thousands of native seedlings from MBG who has assisted us nursery trainings and botanical advice over many years.
VAHATRA : LCF manages climate data loggers in Marojejy as part of a larger climate monitoring program led by Association Vahatra. LCF also purchases and distributes many Vahatra field guides.
ADES: LCF is the primary distributor of fuel-efficient cook stoves in SAVA built by ADES, a Swiss-based ngo with several factories in Madagascar employing hundreds of local residents.
PHE Network: For many years, LCF has led the SAVA region in facilitating rural access to long-term contraception though our partnership with the Population-Health-Environment Network in Madagascar.
GERP: For more than 20 years, the Groupe d’Étude et de Recherche sur les Primates de Madagascar (GERP) has led lemur conservation at several sites in Madagascar, including assisting LCF with environmental education workshops near Marojejy/ASSR.
Although stunningly rich in biodiversity, Madagascar is also exceptionally poor in almost every quality-of-life measure tracked by the United Nations and World Bank. Population is exploding, and most Malagasy live on less than $1 per day.
Poverty and political instability have undermined Madagascar’s environmental management. Slash and burn agriculture, selective logging of precious wood (rosewood and ebony), and fuel wood harvesting has accelerated deforestation and erosion, which in turn has altered microclimates, leading to droughts, forest fires, and soil degradation. Bushmeat hunting of lemurs has also increased in recent years due to insufficient patrols, a lack of alternative protein sources in rural villages as well as the emergence of a commercial bushmeat trade.
LCF conservation programs on the ground in Madagascar are helping to protect lemurs and their habitat while employing many local residents.
Partnerships
Lemur Surveys at Berenty Reserve: For more than 10 years, the late Dr. Alison Jolly and her family have supported an annual ring-tailed lemur and Verreaux’s sifaka census at Berenty, which is the very first site in Madagascar where lemur research began. Dr. Hanta Rasamimanana led these surveys for many years with students from École Normale Supérieur (ENS). In 2024, her former student Santatra Rindra Santatriniaina began a new five year census program.
Wildlife Madagascar: In 2023, LCF invited Wildlife Madagascar to assist in patrols, research, and conservation programming in Anjanaharibe-Sud Special Reserve (ASSR). Wildlife Madagascar has a new office in Andapa and very quickly have become leading researchers in the region, one of several sites where they work in Madagascar.
Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS): LCF collaborates with WCS on silky sifaka monitoring at the Simpona Lodge site near Andaparaty, and other projects.
Missouri Botanical Garden (MBG): Each year LCF purchases thousands of native seedlings from MBG who has assisted us nursery trainings and botanical advice over many years.
VAHATRA : LCF manages climate data loggers in Marojejy as part of a larger climate monitoring program led by Association Vahatra. LCF also purchases and distributes many Vahatra field guides.
ADES: LCF is the primary distributor of fuel-efficient cook stoves in SAVA built by ADES, a Swiss-based ngo with several factories in Madagascar employing hundreds of local residents.
PHE Network: For many years, LCF has led the SAVA region in facilitating rural access to long-term contraception though our partnership with the Population-Health-Environment Network in Madagascar.
GERP: For more than 20 years, the Groupe d’Étude et de Recherche sur les Primates de Madagascar (GERP) has led lemur conservation at several sites in Madagascar, including assisting LCF with environmental education workshops near Marojejy/ASSR.