Protect lemurs. Empower women. Further science.

COVID-19 has had devastating effects globally. Madagascar has been particularly hard hit, and as one of the world’s economically poorest yet most biodiverse nations, immediate action is needed to support people and protect wildlife. Our COVID-19 programming aims to deliver urgent financial relief to vulnerable populations in villages in southwestern Madagascar (where food security is low), preserve crucial and irreplaceable biodiverse habitats of southwestern Madagascar by ensuring research patrols continue, despite the deepening crisis, and provide emergency and targeted support to early career conservationists (whose critical fieldwork has been disrupted). 

Our immediate fundraising goal is $20,000 USD

​We aim to conserve nature through urgent humanitarian aid in the following programs: 

Urgent financial Assistance to vulnerable rural populations

Lemur Love has been working in the remote villages in southwestern Madagascar since 2012. This region of Madagascar has high food insecurity as there are frequent droughts, the supply chain is often unreliable, and few relief organizations are present. Though some communities in the area are receiving support from the World Food Programme, more support is needed as COVID-19 is having devastating impacts. Schools and individuals in the area have run out of basic supplies (taxi-brousses, the local transport system, were not operating for about 3 weeks, and local economies have simply disappeared), and a lack of tourism income is devastating some local families’ abilities to buy food and pay for school fees. In both villages where we have long-term relationships (Efoetse and Mangily; both villages have roughly 3,000 people) food and essential supplies (e.g. soap) are lacking, with many families being unable to buy staples such as rice, oil, and sugar. We aim to deliver targeted assistance, including small cash grants (aimed at the villages' most vulnerable, such as single parent households and women who are pregnant or lactating), payment of school fees (where parents cannot afford them), and purchases of critical supplies, through several of our long-term partners in the community, including:

• Tanalana Miraike Women’s Association of Efoetse - an association of 50 women that Lemur Love has supported in the past through training and capacity building
• Efoetse Local Government (Fokatany/Dina)
• La Marmaille School Mangily - a small private school catering to 400 primary students, many of whom are now struggling to attend school. Earlier this year we supported this school's building project, which is now nearing completion. 

Monitoring and patrol of lemurs and spiny forest habitat

The COVID-19 crisis has wiped out half a billion dollars in tourism revenue from Madagascar and is causing a large funding crisis for protected areas across the country. Fortunately, the Tsminanampesote National Park is home to a small, permanent ecological team who continue to have a permanent presence in the forest, where they provide the only ongoing monitoring of lemurs as the COVID-19 crisis continues. Their monitoring not only helps in the detection of habitat destruction - which may increase in the coming months - but to deter exploitation of resources inside the park. With the emergency funding, we propose to support this monitoring effort, together with local partners. ​

Keeping scientists at work: 6-month writing fellowships for Malagasy students or early-career conservationists

The COVID-19 crisis is resulting in difficult short-term and long-term negative impacts on Madagascar’s scientific community. In the short-term, and with virtually all foreign research and field seasons cancelled for 2020, Malagasy student researchers who would otherwise rely on foreign grants or research assistantships are left stranded without work or income. In addition, many young professionals (women in particular) are being forced to take career and study breaks due to family and childcare obligations. Long-term, these interruptions will disrupt the pipeline of young Malagasy conservationists, especially for women and minority ethnic groups. Young scientists and environmental conservationists underpin Madagascar’s future ability to care for its environment. We will provide academic mentoring and a stipend to early career conservationists, to allow them to continue focusing on their research by publishing manuscripts using existing data sets. This will foster enthusiasm for Malagasy-led research and ‘keep the science going’ during this difficult time. We will work with fellows to produce a manuscript for publication submission. We are particularly interested in supporting women, who may be burdened with additional domestic responsibilities as a result of COVID-19. 

You can support our urgent relief programs through the donate button below or via our Facebook page. 

​Lemur Love is a small US-based non-profit organization (501(c)(3)) that conducts scientific research and 
​partners with Malagasy women to build capacity and promote conservation.