Peretti Project: Funded by the Nando Peretti Foundation
A Future for Lemurs and Children
2003-2004 is the second year of a multi-faceted approach
to ensuring ‘a future for children and lemurs.’
We will continue environmental education for Malagasy school
children, publicity for conservation work to raise environmental
awareness in Madagascar, conservation research on lemur
populations, forest restoration, and the development of
an international training center. ICTE's sixteen years of
experience with conservation and development in Madagascar
have shown that these activities are the most critical for
long-term protection of Madagascar's natural heritage in
a way that benefits the citizens living near Ranomafana
National Park.
This project provides funds for the following activities:
1) The completion of the construction of the ValBio Training
Center Classroom/Administration Building and the entrance
structure, roadways, and bridge to the park, as well as
the initiation of the new Climate-ControlledLaboratory Building.
The Centre ValBio will be used as the center of project
activities, and will provide the space needed for the education,
training and research components.
2) Over 700 children in the Ranomafana area will participate in environmental education programs. As part of educating children, the education component will produce conservation education materials including coloring books and booklets for school children on lemurs and birds.
3) Our public awareness program will produce newspaper articles and television reports on environmental activities. These will be seen by all of Madagascar and will increase environmental awareness in this country.
4) Lemur research will supply needed information for proper lemur population management. In addition to continuing long-term studies on endangered lemurs, we will conduct one expedition to locate new populations of endangered bamboo lemurs, as well as other lemurs, for conservation attention. With this new information we will continure our efforts to produce population viability assessments of the rarest species using genetic information from these wild populations.
5) Reforestation projects will involve farmers in beginning the long and difficult process of restoring degraded habitat. We plan to continue supporting the reforestation activities initiated in 2001 in the villages of Ranomafana and Ambotovory and in four schools around Ranomafana.
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