Celebrating the 25th Anniversary in Madagascar

20^th January 2012

By Lee Durrell
2011 was the 25th anniversary year of the Trust’s conservation work in Madagascar. I helped develop the recovery programmes for the angonoka (ploughshare tortoise) and other species from 1986 to 2002 and eventually became known in Madagascar as “Dady Angonoky”, which means Grandmother Tortoise. Thus when I was asked to visit Madagascar in November to participate in the silver anniversary celebrations, I was as delighted as any old granny would be!

The visit started, appropriately, at the angonoka breeding centre, which has expanded over the years to include other Malagasy tortoises and turtles. It lies in the heart of the Ankarafantsika National Park, a beautiful western dry forest, rich in lemurs, birds and herps. The Durrell team, headed by Ernest Bekarany, had organised a big fety (festival), and as our guests began to arrive, I was “summoned” by a band of clapping women and dressed in the traditional sahalova, not an outfit designed for the heat of Madagascar, but at least it keeps the mosquitoes off!

I was ushered into a throng of villagers, who came from near and far to dance and sing, and dignitaries and officials, who gave speeches about protecting biodiversity in the region. There was particular emphasis on the rere, the Madagascar side-necked turtle, for which we have started a release programme into nearby lakes.

I spoke, too, recalling that I had started my love affair with Madagascar right there at Ankarafantsika 38 years ago, as a young zoology student, and then about how I had introduced Gerald Durrell to Madagascar when he came with me to a conference on lemurs 33 years ago. Everyone was rather taken aback by this ancient history!

Early the next morning, 21 young angonoka were sewn into raffia baskets for their long journey back to the wild. It was fitting to coincide their release to the anniversary celebrations being held at Soalala, gateway to Baly Bay National Park, where the few remaining wild angonoka are found.

We flew to Soalala, where the Durrell team, led by Lala Jean Rakotoniaina and Angelo Ramy, had organised stands and displays of local activities, including the work of Madagascar National Parks, the Department of Environment and Forests and Durrell to save the angonoka and protect the Park. Speeches and dancing culminated with Robert Bourou showing one of the angonoka to the crowd of enchanted youngsters.

Daybreak the next morning saw us in a boat full of baskets containing the by now restless tortoises. A short boat ride, a walk through the bamboo scrub and finally the tortoises were freed, munching straight away on greens we’d brought with us. It was a thrilling moment for me – the first angonoka release I’d witnessed in the whole of my long involvement with the species!

That afternoon a big gathering was held in Soalala of all local stakeholders in the angonoka recovery programme to talk about the grave matter of tortoise smuggling. What impressed me most was the real desire of everyone, from cattle owners to village elders to government officials, to solve the crisis.

The next day we flew to Antsohihy in the north for the formal opening of the new breeding centre for the Madagascar pochard. We toured the centre, met the stakeholders and had a party, all superbly organised by our pochard team, led by Felix Razafindrajao and Lance Woolaver. We work with the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust and The Peregrine Fund on the recovery programme for this species and are already planning to build a more extensive facility on the banks of a river closer to where the few wild ducks have been found.

Next stop was the biggest nickel-cobalt mine in the world, Ambatovy, near Andasibe in the eastern rainforest. We had been invited to discuss conservation of two threatened species of Mantella frog found on the site. We are working with Mitsinjo, a Malagasy NGO, to manage an amphibian breeding facility at Andasibe, which will breed these and other frogs. We saw wild Mantella and visited Mitsinjo’s nearly finished facility.

The last of the celebrations was held at the Hotel Colbert in Antananarivo, with Jonah Ratsimbazafy acting as Master of Ceremonies, welcoming our conservation partners and colleagues. It was great to see so many faces from the early days! There were speeches from our Tana-based team, including Richard Lewis, Director of Durrell’s Madagascar Programme, and Hasina Randriamanampisoa, Communications and Logistics Coordinator. A speech from Grandmother Tortoise was followed by a giant cake and a goody bag with a commemorative booklet detailing Durrell’s 25 years of conservation in Madagascar.

To our energetic and talented staff in Madagascar I would like to say a big thank you for organising a complex visit with great attention to detail. I had a wonderful time and feel that the 25th anniversary was well and truly celebrated!

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