Madagascar

The Garden has had a sustained research presence in Madagascar since the 1970s, and established permanent base in the 1980s. The program grew locally and organically, and there are now more than 150 staff members associated with it, of which almost all are Malagasy.

 

After more than 25 years of concentrated work in Madagascar, the Garden is more committed than ever to its conservation efforts in region. The program's accomplishments include:

• The planting of 155,919 seedlings of fast-growing non-native trees as an industrial alternative to the wood from native trees
• 888 new species collected and recorded for the Garden's herbarium
• Support for 13 Malagasy university and college students, including 2 doctoral students
• 35 new development projects, including the construction of 9 classrooms and 16 wells
• Support for 91 full-time or part-time rangers
• 4 biodiversity festivals, which cumulatively attracted more than 10,000 visitors
• A change of forest structure and flora monitored in 17 permanent plots
• 277 radio broadcasts and 38 film showings designed to increase awareness among villagers of the importance of biodiversity, how it is threatened and how it can be conserved
• Propagation of 45,727 seedlings of 135 different native tree and shrub species for the restoration of degraded forest
• Installation of 37 km of firebreak to help protect vulnerable forests from wildfires
   

Armand is a member of the Garden's William L. Brown Center staff, and an authority on the flora of Madagascar, particularly members of the cashew family, the Anacardiaceae. His current projects include:

• Taxonomic revision of Abrahamia
• Synoptic revision of Malagasy Cassinopsis (Icacinaceae)
• Botanical Exploration of Anadabolava-Betsimilaho, a complex forest ecosystem in SE central Madagascar
• Community-based conservation of Vohibe and Analavelona Forests in Madagascar