| | Habitat Corridor 3 and 4 of SEED's Ala Project, Sainte-Luce. | With Earth Month, World Biodiversity Day and World Environment Day all falling within the last month, it's an important time for us all to consider the health of the earth. Here at SEED, we have been doing just that. In celebration, for this newsletter, we've pulled together just some of the ways in which SEED considers our world in everything we do. From planting fruit trees around our new schools, to researching a potential new frog species, to supporting local fishers to advocate the benefits of sustainable lobster fishing, the unique environment in which we live and work is central in everything we do here at SEED. One of SEED’s newer projects, Sekoly Maintso (Green schools in Malagasy), is an initiative to offset the carbon produced through the building of the school. "Sharing a passion for the environment, and teaching students the importance of its protection is crucial for their future, particularly here in Madagascar…” said Gerard Haussmann, Sekoly Maintso’s Project Coordinator. The celebrations seen over the past month act as an important reminder of the growing conversations people are having, as well as a stark indicator of the increasing necessity of such conversations. Read on to see how SEED works with every aspect of our beautiful environment in Madagascar 🇲🇬 👇 | | Gerard Hussmann, Sekoly Maintso Project Coordinator gives environmental education session to the children of Emagnevy EPP. | Tasty Approaches to Teaching! 😋 | "Erikandro manimba voly'', or “The rain is destroying farming”, are the words being uttered amongst the communities of southeast Madagascar to our Sekoly Maintso team. With either sudden heavy downpours, or increased periods of drought, the communities are seeing more and more how the traditional growing calendars passed down through generations are becoming increasingly unreliable. Last week we sat down with SEED's Sekoly Maintso Project Coordinator, Gerard Hussmann, to discuss the importance of the work he is doing at some of our previous school construction sites. Born in Fort Dauphin before moving to the capital Antananarivo to study agronomy, Haussmann has always had a passion for working with plants, and how they can be used as practical means of education. Sekoly Maintso does just that and is our combined approach to offset any emissions produced during the construction of our schools through planting plantations for carbon offsetting, whilst offering education to the students on sustainable agricultural practices and the importance of protecting the environment. This month, Haussmann worked with the children of Emagnevy and Esohihy Primary Schools and Madiso Middle School to plant fruit trees around each site. With plants that include lychee, mango, banana and papaya, the trees will offer both a tasty snack and shaded area for the students. 🍌🌳 Read the blog article below to find out more about Sekoly Maintso, and our green solution to keeping the fruit trees protected. | | | | The potential new frog species spotted by our Conservation Research Team during a Herpetology survey in Sainte-Luce's littoral forest. | SEED's Conservation Research Programme on the brink of a new discovery...? 👀 | This month we had reports from our Conservation Research Programme that they were increasing efforts to find and identify a potential new species of frog... Sighted in Sainte-Luce’s littoral forest, this one is similar to the endemic Mantidactylus femoralis species but larger in size, measuring around 4 centimetres. To confirm a new species, we need to not only spot the elusive frog again, but capture it so a DNA test can be taken from one of its toes. This data can then be logged and compared to those of a similar type, confirming if it is in fact an undiscovered species. The aim of the regular targeted herpetology surveys in Sainte-Luce is to uncover vital biological information like this, and our volunteers and research team will be ramping up efforts to try and find the frog once again over the next few months. There's never a dull moment in our research camp... | | | Project Oratsimba on the 2023 lobster fishery reopening day. | Snapping Open Lobster Season! 🦞 | April was an important month for Team Enviro - not only is April 'Earth Month', but it’s also the month that the regional lobster fishery re-opens across Anosy. As of the first of the month, fishers are once again able to resume fishing after a three-month period to allow lobster numbers to recover. The season opening is often met with high expectations, and lots of hard work, as fishers can bring in large catches at this time of year. In fact, for the majority of households in villages such as Sainte Luce and Elodrato, lobster fishing is the highest-earning job available and their main livelihood. The fishery generates crucial income for households that is then used for school fees, house repairs, weddings, funerals, equipment, and much more. Linking with SEED’s wider recovery and resilience programme, Project Oratsimba is also working with lobster fishers along the coast to both secure their long-term access to and management over their natural resources, and to utilise this spike in income to help fishers prepare for the increasingly erratic and harsh lean seasons that plague Anosy. The project combines financial resilience, community-led environmental management, and outreach as a means of bringing wins to the fishers and ocean alike! | | | Facebook fundraisers generated over £2000 for us in 2022. Set one up to help us in 2023! Here’s how | | | This email was sent to friend@example.com | © SEED Madagascar. All rights reserved. |
|
|
