From Montréal to Madagascar: Balancing the Needs of Humans and Wildlife

By Karen Samonds and Mitchell Irwin

Did you know that Montréal is home to a young NGO called SADABE seeking to develop novel and innovative ways to promote the coexistence of people and wildlife at Tsinjoarivo, Madagascar?

Madagascar is recognized as a biodiversity hotspot, whose terrestrial ecosystems show exceptionally high diversity and endemism, and Tsinjoarivo is a rare example of high-altitude tropical rainforest. Yet local people continue to destroy this richness because of poor agricultural practices, inadequate development support, extreme poverty, and lack of viable economic alternatives.

SADABE’s goals are to promote a better and more effective coexistence for Madagascar’s humans and its wildlife. Our activities include research on forest fragmentation and disturbance, conservation which includes education and reforestation, with more than 70,000 tree seedlings planted, and development by initiatives to improve education and health care for local people by hosting rural dental clinics, facilitating the construction of a primary public school, and developing sustainable agricultural practices and ecotourism. The name “Sadabe” is a combination of “sada”, which means multicoloured in the Malagasy language, and “be”, which means big. It is the local name for the large and multicoloured diademed sifaka, the largest of the ten lemur species found in the forests of Tsinjoarivo. But it also reflects our philosophy: in a world in which conservation and development often fail when attempted in isolation, our best chances lie in projects which tackle both challenges together.

Recently, SADABE started a collaboration with Chimp-n-Sea in hosting vEcotourism (virtual ecotourism) at Tsinjoarivo. vEcotours are interactive tours that provide both education/outreach and alternative income generation for local communities. vEcotours are presented in real-time by live tour-guides, and vEcotourists (logged into the tour over the internet) have the opportunity to ask questions, and influence the direction of the tour. vEcotourism has fewer negative impacts on the environment relative to most traditional ecotours, such as a high carbon footprint, wildlife disturbance, potential for disease introduction, and development of roads and other infrastructure.

SADABE is a young organization greatly in need of enthusiastic volunteers, from fundraising, event-hosting, and tree-planting to international development, solar cooking, health, and education! This is a great opportunity for creating your own volunteer opportunities either in Montréal or in Madagascar, while making a real difference for Madagascar’s people and wildlife. If you would like to learn more about our organization, or tune into our next vEcotour, find us at http://www.sadabe.org or email us at info@sadabe.org.