Paradise in Peril? Exploring Madagascar's Biodiversity Crisis
Study Abroad in Madagascar
May 5-June 10, 2010
Madagascar is home to an astonishing eight plant, four bird, and five
primate families that live nowhere else on Earth. Until recently,
Malagasy people (comprised of 17 different ethnic groups) had limited
land tenure rights and little support for alternative livelihoods.
Madagascar is faced with balancing the delicate relationship between
human development and environmental protection. This has had devastating
consequences for both the country's natural environment and people's
standard of living.
This study abroad program examines the nexus of biodiversity
conservation and livelihood preservation on the world's 4th largest
island, Madagascar. We will visit multiple terrestrial and marine
protected areas in diverse habitat types (e.g., tropical humid forest,
deciduous dry forest, coastal and marine habitats, mangroves, coral
reefs) to better understand the evolution and sustainability of natural
resource governance in Madagascar. We will see first-hand and discuss
both the challenges associated with managing and enforcing protected
areas (e.g., illegal logging, lemur or tortoise poaching) and the
opportunities (e.g., carbon banking, ecotourism, community policing).
Students will learn about how Malagasy people react to and think about
environmental enforcement and environmental degradation. Guest speakers
will discuss voluntary and mandatory compliance interventions designed
to foster co-conservation of culture and natural resources, educational
and technological innovation interventions, and captive breeding
programs for Madagascar's endemic endangered species. Students will
directly interact with conservation practitioners, enforcement
officials, biologists, and local people to experientially learn about
Malagasy culture and natural resources.
The program begins in the hilly and densely populated French-speaking
capital city of Antananarivo and proceeds over land by private coach to
the rural and agricultural central highlands and forested eastern coast.
We'll travel by commercial air to the lowland coastal tropical forest
and by private boat to a marine protected area. Students will
familiarize themselves with Malagasy flora and fauna, interact with
government, non-governmental, enforcement, scientific, and community
managers, and will participate in hands-on learning including guided day
and night hikes, snorkeling, and community-based natural resource
management and enforcement.
Check out photos from previous programs:

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To apply visit MSU's Office of Study Abroad:
Questions:
Dr. Meredith Gore
517-432-8203 or