| Read on for the latest from Stitch Sainte Luce, Votsira and Mahampy. |
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October has been a very special month for us, with Stitch Sainte Luce taking another step on the path to independence, and spreading their (beautifully embroidered) wings to fly into the future. Projects Votsira and Mahampy have also made big strides - read on to find out more! |
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Stitch Sainte Luce partnership |
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| Stitch has come a long way since 2012, when just 11 women formed the first cohort of embroidery students. Now a Cooperative of 96 members, the project has gone from strength to strength, and is building towards independence from SEED.
With a memorandum of understanding in place between SEED and Stitch, we will continue to provide support while the cooperative members continue to develop the business, increase sales and of course make more gorgeous products! |
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Project Mahampy - Reed all about it! |
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Throughout the Anosy region, locally available mahampy reeds are used to weave traditional products like hats, mats and bags. In order to safeguard this resource for future generations, the Project Mahampy team has been mapping reed beds and working with the community to develop participatory monitoring strategies.
Using the map, which combines GPS points, remote sensing data and local names, the team can gain an insight into harvesting patterns and potentially overexploited areas. The weavers association, scheduled to be established next month, will then be ideally placed to facilitate community feedback sessions on reed bed monitoring and learning, including youth education, sensitisation events, and information signposting.
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Votsira completes it's child health course |
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| Project Votsira recently completed it’s 2-year child health course. Designed in partnership with the Ministry of Health, the course provided caregivers with essential knowledge to protect themselves and their children.
All in all, the course included 528 focus groups and 2,376 household visits to 3,273 caregivers! The Votsira team will now move on to an impact evaluation and interim research phase.
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SCRP guide Aime releasing the trapped Coua |
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Tackling hunting in Sainte Luce |
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Conservation isn’t just about animals, there is very much a social aspect to it. Having a solid relationship with the community, the authorities and our Malagasy staff lays the foundation for a strong conservation programme that can address issues as they arise.
Recently, this was put to the test when a spate of hunting and snaring occurred in protected forest in Sainte Luce. A couple of brown lemurs were captured in snares originally set for pigeons, crested ibis, and other birds. Despite sustaining damage to their hands, this pair of lemurs have been spotted since, and seem to be coping well even with their permanent injuries. SCRP also discovered a giant coua snared in one of the traps, which we were able to release. A brief meeting with the Chef of Sainte Luce and forestry management authorities developed into a community meeting the next day. This gave the community a chance to discuss the weaknesses in their current system, and sparked discussions to allow them to move forward with stronger protections.
We are very happy to report that since the community meeting there have been no cases of hunting detected in the area in the past month!
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Places are still available for our 2020 volunteering schemes. |
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