After Chance Meeting, New Population, Health, and Environment Program Is Born in Madagascar

Against the stunning backdrop of Marojejy National Park, I recently crossed paths with a conservationist from a very different background, working on the opposite side of Madagascar. But, it turns out, the communities we work with face many of the same challenges, and our meeting spawned a new population, health, and environment (PHE) program.

After an intense and productive visit to Blue Ventures’ PHE program in southwest Madagascar, where I serve as medical director, I was looking forward to my trip to Marojejy. Designated as part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007 for its immense biodiversity, high numbers of endemic species, and stunning mountain scenery, the park is rightly on Madagascar’s priority list for conservation. It’s also the location of the Duke Lemur Center’s new SAVA Conservation project.

The communities we work with face many of the same challenges.
Based in Sambava, one of four cities in northeast Madagascar that make up the acronym in the project name, SAVA began in January 2012 and takes a multi-faceted community-based approach to biodiversity conservation with strong collaboration between a host of partners.

See full Article: http://www.newsecuritybeat.org/2014/02/chance-meeting-population-health-environment-program-born-madagascar/