"Knighthoods," Fire Truck Signal Couple's Environmental Achievement in Madagascar

Two starkly different events -- the ceremonial presentation of gold medals and the emergency dispatch of a fire truck -- told Andrea Katz and Charlie Welch that their 15 years in Madagascar had been well spent.

Those two events signaled that their dedication in leading development of the verdant 800-acre Parc Ivoloina conservation center and zoo had become a prideful part of the Malagasy people's environmental heritage. Its dozens of lemurs and collection of endangered plants offer new hope for the preservation of that heritage.

The gold medals came in an official ceremony last June, when the husband-and-wife team were named "Chevaliers de l'Ordre National" by the Malagasy government, in recognition of their conservation, education and training efforts on behalf of environmental protection in Madagascar.

And the fire truck -- the only one in the region -- had come speeding out from the nearby city of Tamatave, along with a contingent of soldiers, to battle a bushfire that threatened the preserve last fall.

Now back in Durham, the couple reflects on such events as signals of a promising future for the center. Ivoloina, hailed by the government as one of the best centers for environmental education and biodiversity management training, also offers employment for local people. The preserve is becoming a self-sustaining attraction that lures both locals and eco-tourists and educates schoolchildren and university students about the exotic flora and fauna that make Madagascar an ecological Eden.

"For so many years, we felt like we couldn't leave, because we weren't sure it wouldn't fall apart after we left," Katz said. "But now, we feel that the recognition and support from the local community are extremely encouraging.

"The response to the fire at the edge of the preserve was really quite gratifying," said Katz. "The nearby city of Tamatave only has one fire engine, and they sent it out of town, which was remarkable. And the government even sent the army to help."

The couple was first enlisted to the task of building Ivoloina when the Malagasy government asked the Duke Primate Center to send specialists to this site near the eastern rainforests. Later, the international NGO Madagascar Fauna Group (MFG), with the Primate Center as a founding member, became Ivoloina's parent organization. Establishing the partnership with Madagascar went smoothly, thanks to pioneering relationships with the Malagasy government established by Duke's Elwyn Simons. But tackling the center's problems was another matter entirely, said Katz."Ivoloina was a completely run-down collection of broken cages with lemurs going in and out," she said. "There was really nothing there." But Katz and Welch were determined to help the Malagasy people build a self-sustaining zoological park that could serve as regional base for conservation activities and public awareness about endangered species. The challenge was as much building relationships as it was building cages.

Said Welch, "It took our presence there year after year, working with people, building their confidence in us and in the projects and what we were all trying to accomplish."

Today, Ivoloina boasts a population of 100 lemurs, with some in cages but many roaming free in the preserve, to the delight of visitors. The center also has become the official refuge for animals confiscated from smugglers. The staff numbers about 30 Malagasy, some of whom were students of Katz's and Welch's who advanced into managerial positions after receiving their degrees from the University of Madagascar.

The center's educational facility attracts school classes and teachers from all grade levels who want to incorporate lessons about their country's ecology into their curricula.  Especially important, travel tour operators see Ivoloina as a desirable stop for ecotourists, said Katz and Welch. Foreign visitor entrance fees are an important source of the operating budget, they said. After a temporary drop in visitors due to an economic and political crisis in 2000-2001, the center is working its way back up to 15,000 visitors a year.

It was to Katz's and Welch's surprise and gratification that the center ultimately evolved to be so much more than a zoo. It has become a multi-faceted educational and training center for the entire region, a leader in local reforestation efforts, a demonstration site for eco-friendly agroforestry and an important site for endangered native palm propagation.

Said Katz, "It was all about lemurs in the beginning. Never in a million years did we think it would expand in scope the way it has. But it became clear very quickly that we couldn't just talk about lemur conservation unless we did environmental education. Then we realized environmental education didn't get very far unless you offer economic alternatives for the people. And that led us to have an agroforestry demonstration center and to develop the Parc's ecotourism potential."

This center aims to show local farmers alternatives to the widespread slash-and-burn agriculture which is destroying the natural forest cover of Madagascar, said Katz.

"It shows how a farmer can mix fruit trees, vegetable gardens, paddy rice and cash crops all together in a small plot of land and manage it sustainably," said Katz. Tree nursery and reforestation techniques, both with native species and quick-growing exotics are also taught. Funded by the U.S. Embassy and the MFG, the demonstration center has been developed by both Ivoloina staff and Peace Corps volunteers.

The couple has also learned much from their other major conservation effort “ reintroducing captive-bred black-and-white ruffed lemurs into the Betampona Nature Reserve in eastern Madagascar. The MFG/Duke project, begun in 1997, has seen 13 animals released into the preserve, with the aims of enriching the gene pool of the small existing population and providing a model for future lemur reintroductions. Also, the level of protection for the reserve has been increased through the project team's constant research presence. Prior to their release in the wild, the lemurs trained in "boot camp" in the natural habitat enclosures at the Duke Primate Center.

"There are three surviving, which doesn't sound like many," said Welch. "But several of the released lemurs lived to reproduce, raise young in the reserve and integrate into wild groups. Although we'd hoped for better, we've learned a lot about the delicate business of reintroduction. And we have added to the gene pool." Just as important, said Welch, has been the cultural and economic change wrought by the project.

"Local men with little education have turned into excellent field researchers, earning a cash income that supports their families," he said. "They continue to follow the lemurs and their offspring, but they also collect data on the reserve's reptiles, amphibians, birds and plants. Betampona is now a hotspot for conservation research. And as at Ivoloina, there are reforestation and environmental education components. So it's a much more comprehensive program than what it even started out to be."

Thus, said Katz and Welch, the projects at Ivoloina and Betampona that started out as being about lemurs have come to be as much about people -- offering them a pathway to preserving the ecology of their stunning island.

What's more, Katz and Welch hope their experience, as well as the ongoing relationship with Madagascar, can be turned to Duke's advantage, offering students an interdisciplinary cultural and environmental education resource, and perhaps even someday a Duke in Madagascar program.