At Madagascar Research and Conservation Institute, we are always striving to improve the lives of the people we come into contact with on the island.  Our latest project is to build a school.  Our community development volunteers, along with many of the local people from the village, are in the process of building the school for Andrekareka Be on Nosy Komba.

Andrekareka Be is an amazing little community with awesome people just 20 minutes away from the research centre.  The children of Andrekareka Be currently walk for an hour over rough terrain to the nearby villages of Ampangorina or Kely to attend classes, so they are extremely excited about having their own school.  They have been working on the school for the last 7 weeks, and it is finally nearing completion.

The money to build the school has been raised and donated by a school in Texas through one of our interns. Another volunteer, Chloe Stewart, has set up a Go Fund Me page for tables, chairs, blackboards, and other supplies to furnish the school once it is built.   Progress is going very well, but there are still a few more building supplies to purchase before our project is completed.

If you would like to support us in this final stretch of bringing this school to life, please visit the Go Fund Me page here.

Contact us today to find out how you can join our volunteer programs in Madagascar.

We are constantly amazed at the passion and dedication of our volunteers to the community they work with in Madagascar.  A former volunteer, Taylor, shares her experiences:

“I arrived at the Madagascar Research and Conservation Institute (MRCI) basecamp on Nosy Komba, Madagascar December 6, 2016. At this point I had no clue what was in store for me and did not anticipate falling in love with a culture and its people the way I did. Coming into camp as an English teacher, I learned that I was also placed under a broader category of volunteers titled “Community,” and was soon challenged to create a community-based project. Although it took some time to come up with an attainable project, I finally proposed the idea of raising money to purchase sporting equipment for local schools. A few particular events sparked this idea.

Not long after I arrived, the community team, myself included, donated money to purchase supplies to fix up a local village’s basketball court. Since the court has been fixed, games have brought the community together on a daily basis. This particular event resonated with me as I grew up playing various sports where local teams thrived off of community involvement and spirit. In addition, it made me realize how easily things such as gymnasiums, organized practices, coaches, and equipment availability can be taken for granted. I knew I wanted work on a project that would benefit a community and I had to tie it to something that locals were passionate about. It then dawned on me; we were able to bring the community of Ampangorina together by simply aiding the people with needed supplies, which in turn allowed them to come together through sport. After talking with the community coordinator and ranting about my hometowns community spirit, I knew I needed to ask for help.

I was raised in Drumheller, Alberta, a small town in Western Canada. Growing up here, it was quickly learned what it meant to be a part of a small community. This community has come together on various occasions when either a family or an organization was in need of support. Having been given the opportunity to play and be a part of multiple school teams growing up, I was able to establish interpersonal relationships not only with team members, but also with coaches and teachers. Knowing how my community has come together in the past to help those in need, I knew I could reach back to my roots for support.

I soon contacted the principal of the high school I attended, Drumheller Valley Secondary School (DVSS), and proposed my goal and challenge to the schools current students. I wanted to challenge students of DVSS to each donate just one loonie ($1.00CAD) in hopes to raise enough money to purchase just one sports ball per school on the island of Nosy Komba. We set the initial goal at $350.00CAD. The principal, Mr. LaPierre, agreed that this would be a great learning experience and opportunity for students to help fellow students. The plan was then quickly put into action. Mr. LaPierre challenged all students to bring in $1.00CAD where he would then reward the class who raised the most money with a pizza party.

It was clear that the students were more than ambitious to help out their peers on the other side of the world. In two days’ time, the students and staff of DVSS raised $695.00 CAD. I was ecstatic when I was notified that our initial goal was essentially doubled. This enabled myself, with the help of staff and fellow volunteers to venture out and purchase the sporting equipment!

With the money raised, we were able to purchase a total of 28 soccer balls, 14 regular basketballs, 4 small basketballs, 15 small rubber balls and 5 pumps.  In addition, we were able put money towards a boat and skippers in order to easily transport and deliver the sporting equipment. Balls were delivered to all schools and villages on Nosy Komba as well as schools on Nosy Be.

Delivering the equipment was a heartfelt and gratifying experience. I was truly moved by just how grateful and happy students, teachers and villagers were by something as simple as one or two sport balls. I also cannot express how amazed I am by everyone that came together to accomplish the proposed fundraiser. The students of DVSS proved yet again just what the town of Drumheller is able to accomplish when they come together. The students of DVSS invested their own money in order to allow students in Madagascar the opportunity to come together as a community through sport. One person can feel small alright, especially when you venture into the wide open world. However, this project has shown that if each one of us do a little bit, bigger things can happen. This idea was made a reality thanks to the students and staff of DVSS along with the staff of MRCI and the community of Nosy Komba”.

If you would like to find out how you can join us in making a difference, contact us today.

The hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) is a critically endangered sea turtle, so you can imagine our excitement when we caught this nesting female on video.

Marine Science Officer Emma wrote the following: “During the first of our routine ‘turtle beach checks’, our team of marine conservation volunteers and staff had the privilege of watching this large female hawksbill sea turtle make a nest and lay her eggs.

After more than two hours, exhausted, she finally managed to haul herself back around and down to the sea, leaving her nest and track behind her.

We recorded the identification details of the female, covered the track (to prevent attention being drawn to the nest) and have set up a regular patrol and day and night, monitoring of the beach for future nesting’s and any hatchlings!”

If you would like to join our volunteer team in Madagascar and maybe spot a hawksbill sea turtle or two yourself, fill in our online application form or contact us today.

Volunteers regularly do forest hikes for various surveys and manage to capture the most stunning photos of geckos, lizards, snakes, chameleons and other reptiles (not to mention all the other amazing wildlife on our doorstep), but it’s not often that they manage to capture exciting events such as this panther chameleon (furcifer pardalis) laying her eggs, on video.

As you will see in the video and photos, chameleons have incredibly distinctive eyes.  With both the upper and lower eyelids joined, there is only a pinhole opening just large enough for the pupil to see through.  Their eyes move independently of each other and can focus and rotate separately to view different objects simultaneously giving them 360 degree vision.

Once prey is located, both eyes focus in the same direction, giving stereoscopic vision and depth perception.  They have very sharp eyesight and can see small insects from up to 10 metres away!

Did you know? A panther chameleon is also able to see ultra violet light…

Another distinct feature is their unusually long tongues which hits their prey in about 0.0030 seconds.

Male panther chameleons can grow up to 20 inches in length, with a typical length of around 17 inches (45 centimetres).

One common misconception though, is that chameleons of any kind can change colour to match their environment.  This is not true.  Chameleons are born with a natural colour range that is dictated by their species.  This range is then affected by temperature, mood and light.

On this particular hike to do our T2 reptile survey, we spotted a pregnant female panther chameleon (furcifer pardalis) just outside of our T7 transect on a branch.

After doing our reptile survey and returning down the mountain about three hours later, we spotted the same chameleon with her head buried in the soil and she had changed from a light pink to dark purple.  Considering her actions and colour change, we assumed she was about to lay eggs.

We sat nearby and watched her dig a hole, very slowly, for about half an hour.  While she continued to dig, we decided that it would be interesting to capture her in a time-lapse video, especially considering her colour changes.

After she finished digging her hole, she then turned around and reversed into the hole to begin laying her eggs.  She continued to do so for about 30 minutes while continually moving and changing colours.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t until we removed the camera and all moved away that she then exited the hole and began covering her eggs with soil.  We were then able to see that she had laid about 10 or 11 eggs.

Sadly, despite our best intentions to return to the site to attempt to see the eggs hatch, we soon found out that it takes about 240!  Most of us won’t be here in that time, however, we shall be marking the day for future forest conservation volunteers to return.

If you would like to join our forest conservation volunteers, contact us or sign up online today.

Madagascar has some serious wet seasons! It’s known for flooding roads that make areas impassable for days. That’s island life and members of the local community on Nosy Komba van share many stories of how it effects their lives.

While Nosy Komba doesn’t have roads, there are many paths around the island that the Malagasy villagers use regularly. Some of these pathways become hazardous during the wet season, to the extent that it keeps people at home and sometimes prevents children from going to school.

One of the worst passages lies right next to the Madagascar Research and Conservation Institute’s (MRCI) base camp and it connects the villages on one side of camp to the main village of Ampangorina. The water runoff from the rain makes this area completely untraversable. To benefit the community, MRCI staff and volunteers took on the challenge of building a bridge over the water way.

The MRCI construction volunteers lead by construction officer, Luke Middleton, designed the bridge and MRCI funded all of the materials. To help the community further, funds were allocated to hire workers from the local community to help with the project.  Using builders from within the community ensured that we had the necessary knowledge to build environmentally appropriate structures.

Once organized, the project took about three weeks to complete. Now the villagers can safely make their way to work and children can easily get to school when conditions aren’t favourable. This is one of many examples of how we try to improve the Nosy Komba community, ensuring that our presence on the island also brings value to it.

If you would like to find out more about our construction projects on Nosy Komba, contact us today or apply online to take part in one of our volunteer programs.