Tuesday, 07. March 2006

Three new species of sportive lemur discovered, one of them named after AEECL

In their recent article in BMC Evolutionary Biology (February 2006), Nicole Andriaholinirina, a Malagasy biologist whose studies were financed by AEECL, and her colleagues have described altogether three new species of sportive lemur (genus Lepilemur) entirely new to science.
Sportive lemurs are small nocturnal primates endemic to Madagascar. They occur in almost all natural evergreen or deciduous forests on the island. As with many mammals that are active at night, fur colouration is not a suitable characteristic to distinguish between different species of sportive lemur. The number of species within the genus Lepilemur has therefore been controversial. Whereas in the 1970ies six species were recognised, the number had increased to eight until 2005.
Andriaholinirina and colleagues, in their now published study, sequenced the complete mitochondrial cytochrome b gene from 68 individuals representing all eight sportive lemur species and most major populations and compared the results with those obtained from cytogenetic studies derived from 99 individuals. Their results confirmed the distinctiveness of the formerly described eight sportive lemur species and, in addition, showed genetic differences among different geographic populations large enough to support the recognition of another three species of Lepilemur new to science. The three new sportive lemur species are separated from the already known species by major biogeographical barriers, such as the Tsiribihina and Betsiboka Rivers.
The sportive lemur population of the Sahamalaza Peninsula, northwestern Madagascar, was surveyed at the AEECL field station in the Ankarafa forest by Mathias Craul and Gillian Olivieri, researchers from the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover and co-authors of the now published article, in October 2004. Hair and tissue samples as well as morphometric measurements were taken from a number of individuals. The results of the genetic comparison of the samples with those of sportive lemurs occurring further north, in the region of Ambanja, confirmed what the researchers had suspected. The new species was named Lepilemur sahamalazensis after the area where it occurs.
The other two new species, Lepilemur aeeclis and Lepilemur randranasoli, also occur at Madagascar's west coast, between the rivers Betsiboka and Mahavavy (Province Mahajanga) and north of the Tsiribihina River (Province Toliara). Lepilemur aeeclis was named in honour of the Association Européenne pour l'Etude et la Conservation des Lémuriens (AEECL), which supported the field work of Nicole Andriaholinirina.

The photo shows Lepilemur sahamalazensis in the Ankarafa forest. (Photo: Klaus Krieger)

Wednesday, 09. November 2005

AEECL takes part in the first "Festival of the blue-eyed black lemur"

On the 24th and 25th of September this year, the first "Fetin'ny Akomba", the "Festival of the blue-eyed black lemur" took place in Antafiabe, a village on the Sahamalaza peninsula. The festival was organised by the mayor's office of Ambolobozo and the local association "Volamaitso" ("Green Money") in cooperation with AEECL and WCS. Its intention was to draw the attention of the people living in Sahamalaza to the situation of the lemurs in their forests and to show them how they can help to protect this critically endangered species.
Despite the large distances between the villages in Sahamalaza, many people attended the event. Among the invited officials were the mayors of Maromandia, Befotaka and Ambolobozo, the deputy (National Assembly) elected in Analalava, the district governor of Analalava, Her Majesty the Princess Boeny as well as representatives of ANGAP, AEECL and other NGOs working for nature protection.
The festival started with a big parade from the village of Ambinda to the neighbouring village of Antafiabe. After the invited officials had held their speeches, a documentary film about nature protection in Madagascar was shown. In addition, local artists presented songs about the environment and the lemurs. Games for children and adults, a bicycle parade, a football match and a gala evening completed the programme.
In a remarkable speech the deputy of Analalava said that the protected area "Sahamalaza - Iles Radama" represents the single greatest potential for the future development of the District of Analalava. He concluded that with the 3rd phase of the national environmental programme the government of Madagascar will help the people of Sahamalaza to sustainably manage their environment.
All in all this first "Fetin'ny Akomba" was a great success for everybody, and it was suggested to make this an annual event in Sahamalaza.

Friday, 14. October 2005

AEECL participates in the "Vitrines de la Sofia" exhibition in Analalava

On the 31st of July and the 1st and 2nd of August, the town of Analalava hosted the "Vitrines de la Sofia" exhibition, including a big fair as well as a parade and other festivities. The intention of this event was to introduce the Sofia Region, one of the 22 administrative regions of Madagascar created in 2004, to its people, to government officials and to guests from all over the island. As one of the NGOs working in the region, AEECL participated in the exhibition with a large stand together with our American partner organisation WCS and the Malagasy national parks authority ANGAP. Apart from interesting information panels on the environment and on our work in Sahamalaza we also offered a drawing competition for the children and a "conservation questionnaire" for the adult guests, both of which were great successes. After three days we had received more than 500 children's drawings, and around 50 people participated in the conservation game. For the latter, Guy Hermas Randriatahina and Dr. Christoph Schwitzer were interviewed on "Radio Analalava" on two consecutive days and informed people about the work of AEECL, the blue-eyed black lemurs and the newly created protected area "Sahamalaza - Iles Radama".
The next regional event in which AEECL will participate with a stand will be the "Fetin'ny Akomba", the "Blue-eyed black lemur Festival", taking place in September this year in the small village of Antafiabe on the Sahamalaza Peninsula.

Sunday, 28. August 2005

Website goes online

Today the website is online for the world!

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