Photo of the Week

Residents of the island nation of Madagascar cast their votes Friday in a presidential election that many hope will restore security, improve lives and mark the end of political and economic turmoil suffered since a 2009 coup.

More than sixty percent of eligible voters in the country's capital, Antananarivo, went to the polls, election officer Martin Rakotofiringa said.

"This is the first time in several elections that I have seen a turnout this high," he said, after most polling stations closed.


People queue to cast their vote in Madagascar's first free election since a military coup in 2009.



VIDEO SERIES Before It's Too Late: The Island Ark of Madagascar

Join us for the third and fourth instalment of our current video series from Storyteller Digital!

These episodes give more of an insight into the beauty and importance of the wildlife of Madagascar by taking a  look at the impact of illegal activities such as poaching on the islands biodiversity.

 

 

Elections in Madagascar

Madagascar is currently counting the results of its first free election since a political coup in 2009. This is extremely exciting news as many people have described Madagascar's political and economic situation as in 'turmoil' as a result of aid being frozen by foreign donors. For more reflection on this long awaited event have a look at some these videos reporting the progress. 

 

Photo of the Week

On the back of this weeks video series segment, our photo of the week is of the strange and curious aye aye.

                                        Aye aye

The aye aye is highly adapted to its native Malagasy home with mind boggling features such as bat-like ears which can detect insect larvae squirming inside trees and a bark breaking bite from strong incisor teeth. They use their long, probing second finger to then excavate its fleshy insect meal.

 

However, the aye aye is a species wrapped up in mysticism and superstition as the Malagasy see its elongated finger as a harbinger of death. Villagers actively hunt the aye aye partly due to their beliefs but also for their meat. Nevertheless, the aye aye's greatest threat is from deforestation and is currently listed on the  World Conservation Union's Red List of Threatened Species.

 

Captive breeding programmes are in action in an attempt to bolster numbers and provide education on this unique species. The first captive bred infant aye aye in the UK was born at the Bristol Zoo Garden in 2005. Why go along and check it out? More information is available here....

http://www.bristolzoo.org.uk/aye-aye

VIDEO SERIES Before It's Too Late: The Island Ark of Madagascar

Join us for the second instalment of our current video series from Storyteller Digital!

This episode gives more insight into the wildlife of Madagascar such as the mysterious and captivating aye aye as well as giving an interesting introduction to issues of resource management surrounding Slash and Burn farming - the major theme of research of the TASC Madagascar Project.

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VIDEO SERIES Before It's Too Late: The Island Ark of Madagascar

Madagascar is unique. It is home to some of the world's oldest species that exist no where else in the world. But humanity's encroachment on this island ark has pushing most of the species to the edge of extinction.

This award winning documentary looks at the work being done to save these endangered species before it's too late.

Storyteller produce and distribute documentaries and factual programming specialising in animals and nature; from endangered species and what's being done to save them to mysterious animal and monster stories.

http://www.storyteller.com.au
http://www.animalx.net
http://www.facebook.com/storytellermn
http://twitter.com/storytellermn
http://www.animalalliestv.com
http://beforeitstoolate.org/

Photo of the Week

This frog of the genus Boophis is one of over 200 new species discovered in a recent survey completed in Madagascar in 2009

The ecological wealth of Madagascar is often cited to be vast, complex and extremely beautiful. Its diversity is still only beginning to be uncovered by science and other disciplines which is evident by the discovery of over 200 new amphibian species during a new survey conducted in 2009. In the last 15 years scientists have found over 100 new frog species alone, demonstrating that a lot more species  can be found on the island than previous estimations suggested.

 

Frank Glaw, herpetology curator at Munich's Zoologische Staatssammlung, said in a statement. "Our new surveys show, there are more species than we suspected."

Summer catch up

Welcome back! I hope you have all enjoyed your summer break and are looking forward to a new term! As our blog wasn’t running during the holidays I thought it would be good to spend this entry catching up and looking in to a couple of summer highlights before we launch in to a new term! Over the summer we have been busy bees with a number of different things going on from running workshops and conference talks to working on making progress with our research.  

 

In July we were lucky enough to be invited to help coordinate a couple of workshops with Crispin School as a part of their enrichment week, giving us our first opportunity to engage directly in the classroom with around 40 year 10 students over two days. Our workshops focused on examining the issue of deforestation whilst placing emphasis on the human dimension of deforestation by including activities directed at exploring the possible social, business and economic aspects of forest destruction.

 

Through a clever role play game called ‘Timber!’ developed by Graham Pike of the University of Prince Edward Island in Canada, the kids were encouraged to adopt the role of a variety of different stakeholders commonly represented in complex environmental discussions. The game enabled the students to work on better understanding the difficulties of comprehending the complicated interactions at play when attempting to manage the eclectic interests of different groups wanting to use the forest, by promoting that deforestation is not only an ecological issue but is also strongly influenced by factors spanning the political, cultural and socio-economic realms.  Furthermore, the activity ignited great debate around wider topics of globalisation and sustainability. The success of the workshops was then finished off with a great evening community event hosted at the Red Brick Building in Glastonbury where we were able to share our message with an engaging international audience.

 

The response to the workshops was phenomenal and we would like to thank the students of Crispin School for their great efforts in participating in the activities. It was a lot of fun! We would particularly like to thank David Wrathall for his leadership and role in the development of the workshop, and Fran Thomson for her tireless support in putting together the community event in the evening. 

 

We are really looking forward to the next couple of months where we will be continuing to develop the research aspects of the project as well as beginning to work on planning our film!

If you’re interested in using the Timber! game in one of your classes, just follow the link below:

http://www.jusbiz.org/timber.html

Photo of the Week

Secluded coastline of the tropical paradise of Ile aux Nattes

Learning the Lingo of the Locals

Naturally getting around Madagascar just like any foreign country can be helped by learning a bit about the local language. Madagascar has two official languages; French and Malagasy. Malagasy is the most popular everyday language spoken across the country, whilst French is more often reserved for business and administrative purposes. As a visitor, French will help you when in the city and in larger hotels and tourist destinations however if you intend to visit more rural locations off the beaten track then you will need to grasp a little Malagasy as well.

Malagasy is spoken by approximately 18 million people in Madagascar. The language largely originates from Indonesia and most closely resembles Ma’anyan, a Malayo-Polynesian language spoken in the Barito Valley of Southern Borneo. Consistent with historical evidence detailing patterns of early settlers from South East Asia and Africa, 93% of its rudimentary vocabulary is suggested to be derived from Polynesian influence with the rest being of African descent. Language holds significance in the transmission of information between people and between stages within history. In Madagascar, Malagasy was only transcribed in to a written form relatively recently by Welsh missionaries at the beginning of the 19^th century. Consequently, the Malagasy people have had to rely on oral transmission in order to facilitate the transfer of cultural and social practices between generations. This reliance upon oral history and communication is still of importance today as even with the development of a written form of the language, these different forms of the language do not bear a great resemblance to one another. For example, the last syllable of word and unstressed syllables in the middle of words are commonly dropped when spoken which can mean it can be a difficult language to follow (e.g. the capital city of Antananarivo is pronounced "Tananarive" but usually shortened to "Tana.").

The Malagasy alphabet has 21 letters that are also present in the alphabet we use here in the UK, but excludes the letters C, Q, U, W and X. Subsequently, ‘Madagascar’ is essentially not a Malagasy word – since C is omitted from the Malagasy alphabet. The actual Malagasy term for their country is ‘Madagasikara’ and confusion over the country’s name has been traced back to the European explorer Marco Polo who is reported to have named the island without actually visiting it. It is thought that he confused the island with the Somali town of Mogodishu and as a consequence successively corrupted the name to its present form.

Perhaps of the greatest interest regarding the language of Malagasy is the mystery that surrounds the widespread range of Malagasy and its consistent use across the island.  Despite Madagascar’s unique location and its sheer variety of ecological landscapes, the reach of Malagasy has not been inhibited leading to its strong establishment as the prevailing of language across the country, much to the bafflement of linguists. Stark contrasts in ecosystems such as forests, mountains, deserts or rivers commonly act as physical barriers to the dissipation of language in other areas. Consequently, the prevalence of Malagasy is somewhat of a surprise to experts considering the size and ethnic diversity of Madagascar. Especially when considering comparable places such as Madagascar’s nearest neighbour Africa, which has over 1500 languages and Papua New Guinea which is only a third of the size of the island and has over 700 different languages.

Why not have ago at learning a few phrases from the info below? A few phrases are presented below complete with English and an International Phonetic language translation to help you along.

English	Malagasy	IPA
English	Anglisy	ãŋɡliʂ
Yes	Eny	ˈʲenj
No	Tsia, Tsy	tsi, tsʲ
Hello! How are You?	Manao ahoana!	manaˈʷonə̥, manaˈonə̥
Hello! (rural areas)	Salama!	saˈlamə̥
I'm fine, thank you.	Tsara fa misaotra.	ˈtsarə̥ fa mʲˈsoːtʂə̥
Goodbye!	Veloma!	veˈlumə̥
Please	Azafady	azaˈfadʲ
Thank you	Misaotra	mʲˈsoːtʂa
You're welcome	Tsisy fisaorana.	tsʲ ˈmisʲ fʲˈsoːranə̥

You may also find this video useful with hearing some basic phrases in actions as well as picking up a few tips about Malagasy culture.

Enjoy!

Photo of the week



Supporters of Andry Rajoelina gather in Antanarivo, Madagascar to hear whether he will replace the ousted President Marc Ravalomanana. (18/3/2009).





Back to the Future: The History of Madagascar

After last week’s news reports detailing how Madagascar’s president Rajoelina will run in July’s controversial presidential elections in spite of a previous agreement specifying that he would not do so ,it seems timely to give an introduction into Madagascar’s history and explore how its past holds insight into its current poltical dynamic and has influence upon present environmental and social debates in Madagascar.

If you would like to catch up with the Rajoelina story please visit:

 http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/03/us-madagascar-election-idUSBRE9420KL20130503

In the grand scheme of history, Madagascar is just a baby. Despite being more of the new kid on the block when compared with other countries, Madagascar has an eclectic and exciting history to explore and discover. Modern day Madagascar’s cultural diversity is derived from a variety of different pioneers and a sometimes tricky and turbulent past associated with diverse indigenous kingdoms, colonialism and socialism. Gaining an understanding of Madagascar’s history leads the voyager to adopt a deeper appreciation for the context in which many of the high profile social and environmental issues of current importance sit, whilst also holding strong meaning for developing future strategies aiming to overcome these challenges.

The first settlers to the island journeyed from Southeast Asia followed by other immigrants from Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. These early founders provided a melting pot of Indian Ocean cultures which grew into diverse and distinctive kingdoms across the island and lit the path for the impressive cultural diversity  we recognise today. The most powerful of Madagascar’s early empires was the Merina ethnic group of the central highlands who established political dominance and unified the people of Madagascar during the 18^th century. The extension of their authority was facilitated by two prominent figures; Andrianampoinimerina (r. 1797-1810) and Radama I (r. 1816-28). These clever and ambitious monarchs used shrewd tactics to play off British and French interests and their relationships with rival Malagasy ethnic groups, to enable their power to spread to all but the most impenetrable regions of the island.



Ethnic groups and population density of Madagascar

After establishing dominance, Merina leaders principally pursued to modernise Madagascar’s social and political arrangements in accordance to a rising presence of western influence since their arrival in the 16^th century . European organisations such as the Protestant London Missionary society were encouraged to establish schools and churches which held significant consequences in developing the future of the country. As a result a written form of the local language of Malagasy based upon the Latin alphabet was created  and almost half a million people were converted to Christianity.  Through the latter stages of the 19^th century European interests in Madagascar grew, encapsulated by concessions being given to both Britain and France through the signing of commercial treaties in 1877 and 1868 respectively. Other important social developments to occur at this time included the abolition of the slave trade and polygamy, the dissemination of education among the Merina and the conversion of the Monarchy to Protestantism in 1869.



The Merina

Nevertheless unity led by the Merina proved too weak to hold off European imperialism in the long run, resulting in France claiming Madagascar for themselves in 1896. The colonial era under French rule continued until 1960 despite challenges from resistance and independence movements which grew steadily from the 1930s onwards with only a brief abatement during the Second World War. The long shadow of colonialism was finally shaken off around a decade after the reinstatement of independence, and thereafter the governance of Madagascar was diverted in a whole other direction. Socialism descended upon Madagascar in 1975 under the rule of Didier Ratsiraka until its ill-fated end in 1993 brought about by two years of violent riots and widespread civil unrest. Since then, this stormy pattern has largely continued with authority bouncing between parties and leaders which have been periodically ousted surrounded by their own cloud of political and social controversy.

The most recent dispute occured in 2009 when Andry Rajoelina sought to overthrow President Marc Ravalomanana ensuing in the formation of the ‘High Transitional Authority of Madagascar’ established under Rajoelina’s leadership. Nevertheless, despite relatively strong domestic popularity, the international community deemed his rise as unconstitutional and proceeded to withdraw foreign support and investment which has plunged Madagascar into one of its worst financial crisis’ to date.

Andry Rajoelina

Unsurprisingly these largescale poltical interruptions appear to be holding broad consequences effecting Madagascar's economic, social and environmental domains at many different levels. For example, the current national and international attention focusing on the poltical status of the country has permitted the rise of increased levels of illegal logging, hunting, mining and outlawed agricultural practices such as slash and burn farming due to a loosening of regulation and enforcement. Calls have been made for the tighting of regulation to prevent future generations of the Malagasy people being deprived of their cultural heritage and to curtail further depletion of important resources with potentially dramatic short-term and long-term effects.

To find out more about this story please visit:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/03/090324-lemurs-looting-madagascar.html

Many people are asking what will the future bring for Madagascar and its people's hope for a peaceful, fair and free election to choose their next leader. At the moment the future of Madagascar appears to very much hang in the balance. Agreement is necessary between the four major factions of Malagasy politics, namely Rajoelina, Ravalomanana, Zafy and Ratsiraka, in order to ensure the successful transition towards a fourth republic and the building of a positive future for the people and landscape of Madagascar. It will be interesting to see the outcomes of the coming elections in July.......

Further Information

If you interested in taking a closer look at important Malagasy poltical events, this timeline gives a useful overview. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13864364

Also, if you would like to know more about Malagasy history these two books really good:

'A History of Madagascar' by Mervin Brown and 'Madagascar: A Short History' by Solofo Randriandra and Stephen Ellis.



Photo of the week

Baobab trees at sunset

Starting at the Beginning: The Origins of Madagascar

Madagascar is the fourth largest island in the world, with only Greenland, Borneo and Papua New Guinea considered to be bigger. The island’s great diversity stems from its history, as approximately 165 million years ago, Madagascar split from the rest of Africa to form the island we recognise today. This separation from the African mainland has meant that all the life that was cast adrift  has been evolving in isolation ever since. This entry will look into the origins of the island of Madagascar, as well as providing a brief introduction to the diversity of its landscapes and its variety of wildlife.

In the beginning, Madagascar was squeezed in between present day Africa and India in the supercontinent known as Gondwana. Gondwana is a vast and ancient landmass that included the large landmasses recognised today as Antarctica, South America, Australasia, India, Madagascar, Africa and Arabia. Approximately 180 million years ago Gondwana began to separate, but as this land mass began to break up Madagascar stayed attached to the ‘hip’ of Africa for an additional 20 million years - which can be identified as the present location of East Africa. Then, roughly 90 million years ago the eastern expanse of the island broke off and drifted to the north to eventually become modern day India. Since this event, the island has remained the same size and in the location we recognise today.

I realise this is difficult to visualise so take a look at this animation which displays the breakup of the Gondwana supercontinent. The part most relevant to Madagascar and the description above appears from about 0:55 onwards.

Along its longest axis, Madagascar is roughly 1600km long and at its widest point, approximately 570km wide. Most of the expanse of the island is located in the tropics despite its position relatively far south of the equator. As you can imagine, a tropical island of this proportion has the coastline to match; 5000km of sweeping sandy beaches envelop the border between land and the sea. Its majastic and popular coastline is  decorated by dazzling coral reefs and offshore atolls in addition to around 250 arresting islands which cling to its sandy tropical shores. Madagascar’s geography is just as impressive inland. A long chain of mountains scar its eastern seaboard, creating a steep escarpment which aids in ensnaring the moisture essential in sustaining its famous ecologically rich rainforests. This beauty extends beyond its ecology as stirring mineral formations can be found in various locations across the island. The northern and western expanses host striking limestone karst formations, which are pointy, sharp eroded rocks which enclose impressive caves, potholes, underground rivers and forested canyons teeming with wildlife, such as lemurs, birds, bats and crocodiles. Locally, karst is known as tsingy, and is protected as part of one of Madagascar’s three world heritage sites Parc National des Tsingy de Bemaraha.

Karst formations or Tsingy

The remarkable diversity of life that exists in Madagascar owes its origins to its 90 million year isolation which has facilitated its habitants to take an unusual evolutionary turn in relation to their pre-isolation ancestors. In addition to its long severance from mainland Africa, the wildlife of Madagascar has been largely undisturbed as human inhabitants only arrived around 2000 years ago. Subsequently, life on the island has somewhat taken its evolutionary course in to its own hands resulting in high levels of biodiversity and endemism. Estimates suggest that 70% of the animals and 90% of plant species found on the island are unique and can only be found in Madagascar. In addition its biological distinctiveness, the sheer abundance and variety of life is overwhelming as 5% of all plant and animal species known to man are represented on the island. It is due to this impressive resume that interest in the environment of Madagascar and certain related environmental concerns has sparked to life, prompting worldwide efforts to protect and conserve its natural riches, encapsulated by its inclusion as a global biodiversity hotspot and a high profile conservation priority in the 21^st century.

For a deeper introduction to Madagascar's wildlife, lets consult the institution that is Sir David Attenborough...these pictures definitely capture the essence of Madagascar's natural wealth. Hope you enjoy them.



Photo of the week

Agricultural fires in rural Madagascar.

What is the TASC Madagascar Project?

Thank you for visiting our blog! Before we really sink into the nitty gritty related to the purpose of this blog, I would like to start off this venture and adventure by giving an initial overview to the project by giving a brief insight into its aims and aspirations.

The TASC Madagascar Project is an educational venture, coordinated by students of Plymouth University and other young individuals, which aspires to investigate and communicate Madagascar's environmental, social and cultural diversity; and raise the profile of any related concerns to the widest possible audience.  Madagascar is unique: approximately 5% of all plant and animal species can be found on the island, many of which are endemic. Its vast and diverse biodiversity is only matched by its enchanting landscapes of epic variety, as you can travel from desert to rainforest in only 300km. Few places in the world can rival Madagascar in offering such an intense and exciting display of nature in a location which offers adventure to the visitor at every turn. However, despite awe-inspiring biological and cultural diversity, life is hard. Madagascar is plagued by chronic political instability, economic fragility and extreme poverty. These aspects of life are culminated by statistics showing that two thirds of the population lives below the international poverty line of only US$1.25 a day.

Madagascar’s difficulties are complex, deeply contentious and characterised by intersecting political, ecological, cultural and socio-economic processes, both at an international and domestic scale. Driven by research, we will investigate and communicate some of the most relevant aspects related to current environmental concerns in Madagascar. Furthermore, we aim to communicate our findings to the widest possible audience and inspire our followers to engage with science and natural history by using a range of different methods of communicating.  Throughout the project, information on Madagascar and a commentary on its environmental stories will be able to be followed on our blog. This online resource will be supported by a strong social media campaign enabling interaction with our audience whilst in UK and in the field. Other features also include; the production of a documentary film tracing the major environmental and social difficulties effecting Madagascar based upon our fieldwork experience on location taking place in September - October 2013 and an accompanying lecture series visiting a number of UK schools. These aspects will also contribute to our additional aim of supporting the work of our chosen charity, the TASC Madagascar Charity.

I am really looking forward to seeing what we can achieve with this project and really hope we can help by whatever means we can in regards to the challenges central to our goal. I hope you enjoy it and continue to follow this thread.

Until later,

Welcome!

Thank you for visiting the TASC Madagascar Project blog! The site is currently under construction and will be ready very soon. See you in a bit.