Durrell News
Jersey offers generous support to people of Madagascar
7th March 2008
The people of Jersey are being thanked for their generous support, through the Jersey Overseas Aid Commission, of a significant grant to fund Durrell's work with communities in Madagascar.
Four projects in Madagascar will benefit during 2008 from funding totalling £114,000 from the Jersey Overseas Aid Commission, with all the money being spent to improve the lives of locals in areas of extreme conservation importance.
Durrell has worked in Lac Alaotra, Baly Bay, Maralambo and Menabe with the local communities to improve the quality of their lives by offering advice and expertise. By developing schemes designed specifically to meet the needs of the communities, the knock-on effect is that the wildlife benefits along with the people that live there.
Leo Niskanen, Durrell's Madagascar Programme Director says, "The Jersey Overseas Aid Commission's focus is to support projects around the world that will alleviate poverty in areas of greatest need. Through this generous funding, the JOAC is enabling Durrell to continue to work on improving rural infrastructure and local livelihoods in Madagascar.
"Durrell works in many countries around the world. In Madagascar, relationships with communities have become the single biggest factor in long-term protection of the environment and biodiversity. Without funding of this kind, from the JOAC, Durrell would simply not be able to help create the sort of long-term impact the communities of Madagascar really need.
"I would like to take this opportunity to thank the people of Jersey and assure them that this funding is having an enormous impact on the lives of the Malagasy people and the precious species they live alongside."
While Durrell works to save species from extinction, it can not do that in isolation, and must work side-by-side with communities to establish the best ways in which the Trust can help. Humans have the greatest impact on ecosystems and so make up the biggest part of the solution to protecting them.
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