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Durrell's work in Madagascar featured on BBC Two

23^rd February 2011

Starting this Wednesday, some of Durrell’s most important field sites on the Island of Madagascar will be featured in a new series of three television programmes entitled ‘Wild Madagascar’. The first, ‘Island Marvels’ airs at 8.00pm on BBC Two and will be followed by two more programmes in the same time slot on Wednesday 16th and Wednesday 23rd February. The series tells the story of Madagascar's diverse and rare wildlife, some filmed for the first time, with narration by David Attenborough.

The BBC trailer for ‘Island Marvels’ explains: “Madagascar, the world's oldest island, broke off from Africa and India and has been on its own for more than 70 million years. In splendid isolation, it has evolved its very own wildlife - more than 80 per cent of it is found nowhere else. And that wildlife is quite extraordinary. In this episode, we reveal the island's most bizarre and dramatic places, and the unique wildlife that has made its home in each, thanks to the geology and isolation of this Alice-in-Wonderland world.”

Filming for the series took place in the wetlands around Lac Alaotra, which is Madagascar largest inland fishery and rice growing area. It is also home to the Durrell’s vontsira, the recently discovered new species of carnivorous mammal. The programme is likely to feature the Alaotran gentle lemur, examples of which can be seen at the wildlife park in Trinity. The film crew also visited the Menabe dry forests which are one of the most threatened habitats in Madagascar and where Durrell has been running species and community projects for the past 15 years.

Commenting on the programmes Andrew Terry Durrell’s Head of Field Programmes said, “In both Lac Alaotra and Menabe Durrell’s work has led to the establishment of protected areas for the unique biodiversity and we work closely with local communities to improve livelihoods as well as save species. Its great to see the BBC returning to Madagascar to really highlight the beauty of this island and where we have dedicated so much of our work over the years.”

This year Durrell is celebrating 25 years of saving species and supporting communities to manage natural resources sustainably in Madagascar. The island is at the heart of Durrell’s conservation programme, and teams have dedicated the last 25 years to saving some of Madagascar’s iconic species, such as the ploughshare tortoise, and to working with local communities to find ways of protecting the natural resources on which they rely.

To find out more about Durrell’s Madagascar25 campaign, click here »

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