SPECIAL POINTS DECEMBER 2016 OF INTEREST: Vol. 5, No. 2 Workshop for Forest Guides

Brief but Meaningful Conservaton news from the Sambava-Andapa-Vohemar-Antalaha region of NE Madagascar

World Lemur Festival Strengthening Protecton of Marojejy Natonal Park

INSIDE THIS by Charlie Welch ISSUE: Earlier this year DLC- Strengthening Protec- 1 tion of Marojejy Na- SAVA was fortunate to tional Park receive a grant from Workshop for Forest 3 Save Our Species (SOS) Guides to increase the Brief but Meaningful 4 protecton of Marojejy Natonal Park, in World Lemur Festival 8 collaboraton with “Climate Change and 9 Madagascar Natonal Lemurs” Workshop Parks (MNP). The grant Environmental Educa- 12 supports clearly tion Teacher Training establishing and marking DLC-SAVA “Lamba” 13 the boundary with Now Available! metallic signs to prevent First CURSA Gradua- 14 both intentonal and unintentonal intrusion into the park. Although DLC-SAVA had already tion includes Sylvio sponsored delineaton of certain priority sectons of the park boundary, extensive areas in Exploring Human and 15 remote parts of Marojejy remained unmarked. There was no way for local people to know Environmental Health exactly where the boundary was supposed to be. Agricultural land ofen extends right up to in the SAVA Region the boundary around much of the park, and if Duke Engineers in 18 the limit is not clear, burning and cultvaton SAVA can actually extend into the park. A clear Closing Comments 20 boundary also discourages other illegal actvites in the park, such as wood collecton and huntng. Teams of local people, organized by MNP, installed the signs, which were made in Andapa. With a clear and defnitve boundary, there is no confusion about where the park begins. At 55,500 hectares (137,134 acres) Marojejy Natonal Park is one of the few protected areas in which the critcally endangered silky sifaka can be found, making protecton of the park a partcularly important conservaton actvity. Many thanks to SOS for supportng the delineaton of Marojejy Natonal Park, and to MNP for organizing and managing the installaton. VOL. 5, NO. 2 PAGE 2

Strengthening Protecton of Marojejy Natl Park Contnued

Newly made boundary signs at the MNP office in Andapa.

The rare silky sifaka can be found in Marojejy

Cultivated land and degraded forest extends up to the Marojejy boundary.

DECEMBER 2016 VOL. 5, NO. 2 PAGE 3 DLC-SAVA Hosts Workshop for Forest Guides Leading Class Visits by Lanto Andrianandrasana

SAVA Conservaton contnues to improve the environmental educaton aspect of the project with trainings and workshops. In August we hosted educators from diferent organizatons to share experiences and discuss about how to make DLC-SAVA organized school visits into forested reserves or natonal parks more efcient at raising environmental awareness of the students and communites. We organized a two day workshop in Sambava to ensure consistency and quality of the school visits to reserves and park forests. The frst day, an environmental educaton specialist from MFG (Madagascar Fauna and Flora Group), André Ratsimbazafy shared informaton about their environmental educaton actvites around Ivoloina Park and Betampona Reserve. André also spoke of their experience afer a year of working with the “Saturday Class” program, to prepare students for their CEPE ofcial exam at the end of their primary school level. Other parts of MFG environmental educaton programs covered were school visits to Ivoloina Park for diferent ages from primary to high Standing (from the left to right) Rénaud Zamanilaoko, Libby Davis, schools, environmental educaton training for Desiré Razafimahatratra, Rinot Nadège, Claudio Nandrasana, Vita teachers, public magazine and radio programs. Afer Modeste, Rado Rakotondrabe, André Ratsimbazafy, Desiré Rabary. that, the coordinator assistant from Sifaka Lower (from left to right) Marina Blanco, Jacques Harison Tonkasina, Conservaton talked about their environmental Ertice Iarozafy, Bruno Randriarimanana, Lanto Andrianandrasana. educaton actvites and challenges at their sites which are stll ongoing such as the process of getng the status of ofcial protected areas. However, they contnue work on environmental educaton with actvites such as school tree nurseries and community capacity building in agriculture. The second day we focused on the guide’s experiences leading school visits at the diferent sites where DLC-SAVA sponsors class visits – Marojejy Natonal Park, Antanetambo Reserve, and Macolline Reserve. We ended the workshop with recommendatons agreed upon by all partcipants for school visits organized by DLC-SAVA, including the preparatons when guides share knowledge about the environment in general, and about the specifc site the students will visit. During the visit, there is more focus on observaton and explanaton about fauna and fora. Importantly, the visit should end with questons, discussion and messages for the students and their communites. We hope this workshop is very important for all partcipants improving the environmental messaging and conservaton in general, but also making the visits organized by DLC-SAVA more valuable. Workshop partcipants are listed below.

Claudio Nandrasana MACOLLINE RESERVE guide Ertce Iarozafy MACOLLINE RESERVE guide Desiré Razafmahatratra MAROJEJY NATIONAL PARK guide Jacques Harison Tonkasina MAROJEJY/AGNOLAKELY guide Desiré Rabary ANTANETIAMBO RESERVE guide Rinot Nadège ANTANETIAMBO RESERVE guide Libby Davis Peace Corps Volunteer in Ambohimanarina Rénaud Zamanilaoka EPP (primary school) Director in Ambohimanarina Bruno Randriarimanana DLC-SAVA teacher trainer in environmental educaton Vita Modeste DLC-SAVA teacher trainer in environmental educaton Rado Rakotondrabe coordinator assistant SIFAKA Conservaton André Ratsimbazafy MFG Environmental Educaton specialist

DECEMBER 2016 VOL. 5, NO. 2 PAGE 4

Brief but Meaningful: Last Expediton to Tsihomanaomby (the Story of Elie, Celia and Sylvio)

by Marina Blanco

Early in May 2016, I began to plan our July expediton to Tsihomanaomby, a patch of disturbed forest about 50 km north of the town of Sambava. We were going to return and search for the radio-collared dwarf lemurs and study their hibernaton paterns. I knew there were some risks, 1) only few individuals had been radio- collared for tracking back in February/March, 2) the fact Degraded landscape with fragmented forest around Tsihoma- that, being a low elevaton naomby. forest, there was a chance individuals hibernate up in the trees, and thus, at inaccessible locatons, 3) the fact that it was a degraded forest where predaton pressure was likely stronger than at other places. Back in May, I had outlined a 2-week expediton with a team of 5 people: a cook, a local guide, a climber specialist, a Malagasy student and myself. I was going to search for a Malagasy student from the nearby town of Antalaha, where the University of Diego has an academic “branch”, called CURSA (Centre Universitaire Régional de la SAVA). This was going to be our frst experience with a CURSA student, following up a formal contract of partnership that DLC had signed a few months ago. We would bring equipment to the forest and retrieve hibernatng lemurs to study their physiology. What follows is a descripton of the actual expediton, which turned out to be about a week long and had to rely on data gathered from a single dwarf lemur. My detailed account on this single capture means I don’t have much else to report, but I must say that, in many ways, the experiences derived from this short and scientfcally-meager expediton were important and very insightul. This writng is meant to be more Team at work, from top to bottom: Elie, Landry and of a tale of cooperaton, perseverance and fght against Sylvio trying to find dwarf lemur’s hibernaculum. prejudices (or brain tricks).

DECEMBER 2016 VOL. 5, NO. 2 PAGE 5 Brief but Meaningful: Last Expediton to Tsihomanaomby Contnued

Story of “Elie” on perseverance: It was a warm, sunny morning, and our long queue of porters and guides broke of, leaving the three of us (climber specialist, Elie, Malagasy student, Sylvio, and myself) wandering at our own pace. Elie and I have been at the campsite before and we were confdent in fnding our way following the clear trail ahead of us. Yet, we got lost and arrived at the campsite a couple of hours later, much to the surprise of the porters. The rest of the day quickly vanished setng up camp and trying to keep things relatvely protected from the persistent rains. Our second day started with promise but turned grey quickly, both literally and fguratvely: we tracked the frst out of 4 individual dwarf lemurs, but only found the Marina and Sylvio – Monitoring EEG data recordings collar on the ground…no lemur. We then moved to our second target and afer a long search we found…another collar and no lemur. By mid-morning half of our lemur sample had just evaporated in front of our eyes. We then tracked the signal from the third individual, which came from the top of a large Sambalahy tree, about 12 meters high, meaning the lemur was possibly safe, but impossible to retrieve. We had ONE last chance and slowly hiked to the most recent known sleeping site of our last lemur. We quickly identfed a tree hole as a potental hibernaculum (I assume the dwarf lemur was in hibernaton mode in July). Elie got to work and climbed the tree to reach the hole. Afer a few minutes checking the radio signal and trying to enlarge the hole to atempt a manual retrieval, he looked pale and said “bibilava” (snake in Malagasy language). He had seen snake scales when fashing a light inside the hole. Based on our prior experiences earlier the same day, I sat on the forest foor trying to hide my face of despair. I “knew” our last hope had been eaten by yet another predator. I was already startng to plan our retreat from the forest, when Elie tried the radio receiver again while hanging from a branch. He was hesitant to retreat, as he felt a stronger signal was coming from a diferent directon than that Elie, Sylvio and Celia (the dwarf lemur) partcular tree hole. To make sure he

DECEMBER 2016 VOL. 5, NO. 2 PAGE 6

Brief but Meaningful Contnued

was not mistaken, he widened the hole with a tool and afer a bit of suspense he removed a tny snake from it…it was the snake’s sleeping hole not a reptlian lemur tomb! All right, we got a second shot. Searching from the ground, focusing on the beeping from the receiver, I identfed another potental site and all eforts were devoted to get to it. The signal appeared to come from a dead tree and, when Elie got to the hole no lemur showed up. A renewed search produced an almost completely hidden site, which of course I felt embarrassed I hadn’t seen earlier. A nicely shaped “nest” was half out of view on the top of a nearby tree. To get to that nest, a complicated route had to be designed. The nest-containing tree was not climbable and some additonal arrangements had to be made. Elie, Landry (local guide) and Sylvio discussed a plan of atack, procured the necessary branches

Tsihomanaomby team at campsite and lianas to bridge the canopy gaps and took positon. At that partcular tme my best strategy was to let all the guys discuss and fgure out a way that they would consider doable and reasonably safe. A few minutes passed and, once the nest was reached, only dry leaves fell down…and no lemur. It was lunch tme by then; we could deal with the mystery (and my personal embarrassment) in the afernoon. A pile of rice, beans and smoked meat renewed my hopes and strengthened the guys’ muscles. Afer lunch, we came back to the site. By now only a couple of candidate trees had been lef untouched or unsearched. We all now agreed the signal was coming from one of the large trees and Elie, Sylvio and Landry took charge of the operaton...Elie eventually got to the tree, which had been considered impossible to reach that very morning, and found a hole (invisible from the ground) and a mild vocalizaton coming from inside…from Celia, one of our fat -tailed dwarf lemurs. It took maybe 25 minutes, but we fnally had her in a bag. We felt her cold body in our hands and we all silently returned to camp, feeling she had been a survivor…when in reality she had been hibernatng all along, completely unaware of our fears, assumptons, preoccupatons and fruitless searches. Story of “Celia” on oddites: simply put, western fat-tailed dwarf lemurs from dry forests hibernate inside tree holes whereas eastern rainforest dwarf lemurs hibernate underground. Yet, we don’t know details for most species or environments. For example: where would a “dry forest” dwarf lemur hibernate if

DECEMBER 2016 VOL. 5, NO. 2 PAGE 7 Brief but Meaningful: Last Expediton to Tsihomanaomby Contnued living in a humid forest? Celia was such a candidate. A fat-tailed looking lemur (i.e., the smallest type of dwarf lemur) found in a subhumid forest, she was retrieved from inside a tree hole (as described above) which gave us a hint as to whether certain hibernaton habits, for example “hibernaculum type”, is a choice shaped by biology or habitat structure. In other words, she hibernated inside a tree hole like her dry forest counterparts, even though she had access to spongy soil where her rainforest cousins would retreat to hibernate. The rainy conditons and the inaccessibility of the tree she used for hibernaton, made us readjust our original plan to study her physiology in situ. We decided to bring her back to camp where she slowly went back into hibernaton mode hours later. To facilitate her return to hibernaton, campsite life was abruptly Elie and Sylvio checking signal from radiocollared dwarf lemur changed from cheerful to quiet, from sounds of pots and plates to those of frogs and birds, as we were trying to minimize the impact of our human presence. All the eforts were focused on making Celia as comfortable as possible. As she was immortalizing her brain actvity (EEGs) in our computer, we could track her state, from actve, to sleep, to hibernaton. She was torpid when we slept. She passively warmed up as sporadic sunshine pierced the forest and heated up her tent. She aroused to reach high body temperature and slept, while we were silently having our lunch. Thanks to her, we are slowly adding more dots to connect the complex thread of hibernaton, species and habitats in Madagascar. Story of “Sylvio” on cooperaton: Sylvio lives in Antalaha, fairly close to forest. Actually, it would take him a couple of taxi-brousse rides (bush taxis) for about 3-4 hours to get close to Marojejy Natonal Park. Yet, he had never been in the forest or conducted feld work, though he is studying Environmental Sciences at CURSA. When I got his contact informaton, he agreed to work with us despite a very short notce, and came to meet us on a Sunday, a day reserved for family and religious actvites. He was not bothered when we got lost on the way to the feld site or when everything got soaked at the campsite. During meals, everybody seemed in a good mood and conversatons always fowed smoothly, interspersed by laughs (untl Celia was brought to camp). People living a few kilometers away sometmes talk like they live worlds apart. The food, the accents, the daily habits, and discussions about how much things cost, how available they are, and of course what music they listen to. Before all phone bateries ran out, music permeated the ambience, before meals, before going to sleep, before going to the forest. At Tsihomanaomby, Sylvio quickly learned the feld methods, how to track a lemur, how to handle it, how to record EEGs – basically, what it meant to be a hibernatng lemur in a rainforest. But he also learned about team work and common sense when they had to deal with partcular challenges that required novel approaches (i.e., how to fnd and capture “Celia”). He learned guidelines from Elie, stories about protectng forest while trying to make a living, from Landry. In his free tme, he taught English to Elie and socialized with families around the campsite. Afer the expediton, litle data were saved, but we all came back to Sambava feeling that team work, perseverance and good spirits made a diference in our short-lived adventure.

DECEMBER 2016 VOL. 5, NO. 2 PAGE 8 World Lemur Festval 2016 by Charlie Welch and Lanto Andrianandrasana

Oct. 28 and 29 was World Lemur Festval, which was celebrated all around Madagascar. The SAVA region festvites were organized by DLC-SAVA in collaboraton with other conservaton organizatons working in the region such as LCF and WWF, and along with MNP. The theme of the Festval was focused on lemur bushmeat as there appears to be a disturbing increase in that illegal actvity in some parts of the region recently. Below is Lanto’s account of the celebra- ton: “The lemur festval celebraton went well, started on Friday October 28 with exhibiton of free hand drawings from the 4 districts. On Saturday October 29 the celebraton started with the carnival around the town of Andapa, fol- lowed by speeches and in the afernoon there was a dance contest about the environment, ‘radio crochet,’ anima- tons by local artsts, and distributon of prizes for the questons on local radio about this celebraton. The celebra- ton ended with the lemur dancing at Vatosoa Restaurant. For the carnival there were approximately 1000 people that partcipated, from public and private schools, associatons and NGOs.”

DECEMBER 2016 VOL. 5, NO. 2 PAGE 9 “Climate Change and Lemurs” Workshop (Funded by DPPDA and Hosted by Vahatra) by Marina Blanco

Madagascar is undergoing an environmental crisis, and it is no surprise to anyone that ongoing habitat disturbance could eventually erase signature species including the charismatc lemurs, if current trajectories don’t change their course. In additon to habitat loss due to deforestaton, there are other threats to biodi- versity that need to be included into the conservaton “equaton”. One of them being the potental efects of global climate change. As climate conditons change, landscapes will be transformed, as will be the ability of some animals to survive and/or disperse in search of suitable habitats. The use of computer modeling to predict landscape modifcaton can help researchers and conservatonists to assess critcal areas for biodi- versity and design “biological cor- ridors” that can allow connectvi- ty between them. Although the utlity of biological corridors is, to a great extent, species-specifc (e.g., depending on dispersal abilites of a partcular species), we need to collect pertnent data now to adjust our conservaton eforts in light of species vulnera- bilites. During informal conversatons with Malagasy student assistants over the last few years, I became aware that discussions about cli- mate change and methodological approaches to measure species’ vulnerabilites have been, for the most part, missing from the classrooms. Students were eager to talk about these issues but were ofentmes unable to access the latest literature or fnd out informaton about ongoing research projects conducted in Madagascar addressing these concerns. As a community-based, research-inspired conservaton branch of the Duke Lemur Center, the SAVA Con- servaton Initatve has a unique positon to bring students/researchers together to discuss environmental problems and new methodological approaches. We can then implement/partcipate in research projects that contribute to conservaton eforts in the wild. With this in mind, I planned to organize a workshop on “climate change and lemurs” in Madagascar’s capital, targetng college students from the University of An- tananarivo. The main goals were to: 1) discuss recent investgatons from Anne Yoder’s lab as well other rel- evant literature on climate change and extncton, 2) introduce students to ongoing research in this feld and propose an exercise for designing hypothetcal research projects, 3) share the DLC/SAVA Conservaton goals and potentally recruit interested Malagasy students to assist our research actvites in northern Madagas- car. I was extremely lucky to get funding from the Duke Postdoctoral Professional Development Award, which allowed me to travel to Antananarivo from Sambava (where the DLC/SAVA Conservaton ofce is located) and to cover living and other logistcal expenses during my stay in the capital. The funding was critcal for

DECEMBER 2016 VOL. 5, NO. 2 PAGE 10

“Climate Change and Lemurs” Workshop Contnued the project, as it was the assistance of Prof. Achille Raselimanana, President of Vahatra, the hostng NGO which promotes research for and by Malagasy stu- dents. Vahatra ofce, close to the University campus, was the ideal setng: it not only allowed students to easily commute from classes, but it also provided a more relaxed atmosphere for students to share their experiences, and ask ques- tons while discussing in a more informal seminar-like arrangement. The frst day started with an introductory presentaton about climate change and methodological approaches. Species’ vulnerability can be measured by looking at “exposure” (extent to which a species is ex- pected to be afected by climate change, e.g., a species living 10km deep in the ocean will be less exposed than a species living on the edge of a glacier); “sensitvity” (degree to which a species depends on prevailing cli- mate; more sensitve species will reduce their survival or reproductve rates under changing climate conditons such as temper- ature variaton); “adaptve capacity” (ability of a species to cope with change, how toler- ant or resilient a species can be under a vari- ety of conditons). To measure exposure, you can look at current species geographical dis- tributons and environmental setngs and then use models to predict where those con- ditons will be available in the future. To as- sess sensitvity and adaptve capacity, how- ever, researchers need to rely on mechanistc and/or empirical approaches (actually collect observatonal data in the feld) to obtain informaton that can be input in more complex models later on. It became clear from the discussion with students that, in order to beter assess species vulnerabilites, a multdisciplinary team of re- searchers and assistants is needed as well as a clear protocol for data collecton that can be shared among researchers and sites. A second presentaton by Colombe Sehenomalala, from GERP (Groupe d'Etude et de Recherche sur les Primates), described a research mission which applied methodologies to investgate risks and threats to biodiversity. Her team conduct- ed research in northern Madagascar with an emphasis on the critcally endan- gered silky sifaka (Propithecus candidus). In the afernoon, a presentaton on the hibernatng dwarf lemurs of Madagascar set the stage for the actvites to be dis- cussed the following day by the students. Are hibernators expected to be more or less vulnerable to climate change? Are some species of hibernatng lemurs

DECEMBER 2016 VOL. 5, NO. 2 PAGE 11 “Climate Change and Lemurs” Workshop Contnued more or less likely to be afected by climate change? The fnal actvity was to organize groups to design hy- pothetcal research projects, by selectng a species and a site, and outlining the methods that could be used to produce valuable data to assess species’ vulnerabilites to climate change. Speaking as a non-academic, rela- tvely reclusive researcher, I have to say I was overwhelmed by the stu- dent’s atendance and general enthu- siasm. They were engaged in discus- sions and grateful for the opportunity to share ideas and talk about re- search. I had hoped for meaningful dialogues and getng a feeling for stu- dents’ ideas and interests, but the ex- perience exceeded my expectatons and I was inspired by the students’ sincere dispositon and willingness to partcipate in scientfc endeavors as well as contribute to conservaton eforts. Special thanks to Prof. Achille Raselimanana and student volunteer/assistants: Narindra, Finaritra, Ricky and Miary.

DECEMBER 2016 VOL. 5, NO. 2 PAGE 12

Environmental Educaton Teacher Training Contnues

by Charlie Welch

DLC-SAVA has been organizing and supportng environmental educaton train- ings of primary school level teachers since the beginning of the project in 2011. The fve day trainings are carried out by DLC-SAVA environmental educaton specialists, and instruct local teachers in how to use a 64 page Teacher’s Guide to Teaching Environmental Educaton, which are distributed to each teacher. In that environ- mental educaton is not taught as a subject in the schools, the ed- ucaton ministry approved Guide also instructs teachers in how to integrate environmental educaton into the core subjects of the curriculum. The trainings are carried out in collaboraton with the public school districts, (CISCOs), and some teachers walk from dis- tant villages to get to the training sites. The trainings are not only a sharing of knowledge, but also a rare opportunity for the teach- ers to get together and exchange ideas. Although the intent of the trainings is for teachers to share informaton with their students, an additonal beneft is that when the teachers return to their home towns or villages, they are also sharing informaton that they have learned about conservaton and environmental issues with adults of the community. In October a teacher training, overseen by Lanto, was carried out in the An- dapa CISCO, with 248 teachers atending the week long session. DLC-SAVA has now trained over 1,500 teachers in the CISCOs of Andapa and Sambava, in how to use the Teacher’s Guide. The next training is scheduled for December, over the Christmas holiday.

DECEMBER 2016 VOL. 5, NO. 2 PAGE 13 DLC-SAVA “Lamba” Now Available!

There are diferent types of the traditonal cloth in Madagascar known as “lamba” or “lambahoany”. A lamba can be a fnely crafed long scarf like piece of cloth, which is in some cases made from natve silk and is usually worn across the shoulders. Another type of lamba is a larger rectangular piece of lightweight coton or coton mix cloth that has many uses but is primarily worn as a wrap (sarong) for women, and sometmes for men as well. These light cloth lambas generally have a scenic landscape printed on the deco- ratve fabric, and usually include a saying or proverb in Malagasy. We now have our own DLC-SAVA Conservaton lam- ba, thanks to the generous help of DLC lead tech Bevan Clark and designer Heath Hillaker. Bevan did the art- work for the lamba, and Heath converted the artwork into digital format, and assembled the diferent images into a lamba composite. Lambas were then printed in the US, and are now available in the DLC Lemur Land- ing gif shop. In the fnal step of the process we will get the lambas printed in Madagascar as well, where they will be used in promoton of conservaton in general and of DLC-SAVA in partcular. Many thanks to Bevan and Heath. Megan modeling the DLC-SAVA lamba.

DLC education staff Megan and Alanna with the DLC-SAVA lamba.

DECEMBER 2016 VOL. 5, NO. 2 PAGE 14

First CURSA Graduaton includes Sylvio

In October, CURSA, the regional university of the SAVA, graduated their frst students afer 4 years of study. 11 students from the English language study, 5 students from the French language study, and 11 students from the environmen- tal study, all received their degrees or “Licence”. Lanto atended the graduaton which included Sylvio, who was among the environmental program graduates and accompanied Marina on the Tsihomanaomby mission (see artcle this issue on page 4). Congratulatons to Sylvio from DLC-SAVA!

A proud Sylvio

DECEMBER 2016 VOL. 5, NO. 2 PAGE 15 DUKE CONNECTIONS

Exploring Human and Environmental Health in the SAVA Region by Melissa Manus Since returning from our inaugural feld season in 2015, our team had been eager to return to the SAVA region and contnue our global health research. In 2015, our focus was broad— we applied ecological and evolutonary thinking to beter understand the climate of health, livelihood, and disease in Mandena, a village adjacent to the entrance to Marojejy Natonal Park. Data from the 2015 trip helped quantfy a suite of health parameters in this village, from musculoskeletal health to the quality of people’s sleep to understanding the microbes that are shared between people and domestcated catle. We also Laura Guidera and Erin Litzow recording data about firepit/stove use collected a portolio of general health data, including blood pressure readings and measures of body mass index (weight relatve to height). Based on our inital fndings, the 2016 team set out to explore the unexpected trend of hypertension, or high blood pressure, observed in the people of Mandena. Specifcally, we refocused our research eforts to beter understand how cooking practces in Mandena are afectng both human health (cardiovascular and respiratory) and environmental health (deforestaton). Traditonal practces in this region typically consist of a woman, and ofen some of her children, cooking over an open fame in a small, unventlated space, using frewood collected from nearby patches of forest. Exposure to smoke can lead to myriad health problems, including systemic infammaton, hypertension, chronic pulmonary obstructve disorder (COPD), and lung cancer. These negatve efects are especially harmful for developing fetuses and pregnant mothers. The logic underlying our study in the summer of 2016 seemed simple — as the demand for frewood increases in this growing populaton, the forest will be afected and people may be forced to travel further from their homes in search of wood. And as people contnue to cook over an open fame in unventlated spaces, exposure to harmful pollutants will increase with increasing A local woman accompanying Lydia Greene, Tommy Klug, and Anna-Karin populaton density. Hess to do home surveys This year’s Bass Connectons team was

DECEMBER 2016 VOL. 5, NO. 2 PAGE 16 Exploring Human and Environmental Health in the SAVA Region Contnued

organized by leaders Dr. Charlie Nunn (Evolutonary Anthropology and Duke Global Health), Charlie Welch (Duke Lemur Center), Dr. Subhrendu Patanayak (Nicholas School of the Environment), Dr. Jerry Bloomfeld (Cardiology and Duke Global Health), and myself. Nunn and I led our ground team, which included PhD student Lydia Greene (University Program in Ecology), Master’s student Erin Litzow (Nicholas School of the Environment), Duke undergraduates Tommy Klug, Anna-Karin Hess, and Laura Guidera, North Carolina Central undergraduate Britany Carson, recent A community member having her blood pressure taken by a Malagasy student that Duke graduate James Yu, and Turkish worked with the Bass Connections group, Njara Raharinoro MD/PhD student Efe Fakir. We arrived in Mandena at the start of July 2016, armed with a curiosity about the relatonship between cooking practces and health outcomes, and an arsenal of devices, instruments, and test kits. Some of us reunited with old friends, while others explored Mandena for the frst tme. With the help and guidance of DLC-SAVA Conservaton, we quickly set of to enroll 25 randomly-selected households, with the plan of making periodic visits to collect survey data, set up air quality measuring devices, and quantfy frewood usage. Our original intenton was to develop an interventon to target the problem of poor air quality in Mandena. At frst, the most obvious soluton was the ADES stove, a Swiss-designed, Madagascar manufactured cookstove that is more energy efcient than current cooking practces. The stoves are being used by households in other parts of the island, and are distributed (sold at subsidized prices) in the SAVA region by DLC-SAVA Conservaton. We knew that some families in Mandena already had ADES stoves, but soon learned that “owning” and “using” these stoves were not always synonymous. Rather, we listened to people explain how the stove takes too long to heat up, does not reach the necessary temperature for heat-intensive cooking, and cannot accommodate more than one pot at a tme. The stoves do not seem to be used consistently in Mandena, and further research on stove use at other locatons The DGHI Bass Connections team and in diferent seasons will

DECEMBER 2016 VOL. 5, NO. 2 PAGE 17 Exploring Human and Environmental Health in the SAVA Region Contnued

hopefully determine whether DLC-SAVA support of the fuel-efcient stoves is merited. We observed a number of other methods, such as a traditonal three-stone fre pit and elevatng pots over the fame using a locally sourced metal tripod. Cooking locatons ranged from inside a small, four-walled building to under a semi-exposed shelter, outside of the main house. Firewood collecton and usage was also more complex than we had originally expected. People collect frewood from diferent places depending on the season and their family’s needs, and use various tree species at unequal rates depending on what is being cooked for a partcular meal. Getng to understand how people use the forest is interestng from a human behavior and ecology perspectve, but not partcularly amenable to quantfying how much wood people use on a daily basis. We adapted to these challenges. For example, instead of weighing wood in the feld, we asked heads of household to estmate, using wood in their own woodpiles, how much wood they will use for cooking breakfast, lunch, and dinner. More generally, we learned that there are many barriers to implementng new technology beyond access and cost. It seemed that the tallest hurdle in Mandena emerged from a cultural context; we have to take the tme to understand how decisions are made and why certain cooking practces have persisted before we are able to consider a novel method. We also discovered the variability (and sometmes unreliability) of devices designed to measure air quality and exposure to harmful partculate mater. Making claims about improved fuel efciency and decreased emissions is impossible without the quanttatve measurements to back them up. Just as you can’t provide a good answer before you hear the whole queston, we returned to Duke realizing we can’t design a soluton before we thoroughly understand the problem. With this in mind, we now meet weekly to explore our data and consider strategies for the next feld season. We are also connectng with other Duke faculty and local partners from places like RTI Internatonal and the Environmental Protecton Agency to beter understand the state of the feld and our optons for improved technologies and health interventons. We look forward to returning to Mandena in 2017 to contnue working with local collaborators to explore this complicated relatonship between cooking practces, human health outcomes, and efects on the forest.

Anna-Karin, Melissa, Laura, and Lydia use some down time to beautify in the local fashion!

DECEMBER 2016 VOL. 5, NO. 2 PAGE 18 Duke Engineers in SAVA: DEID Madagascar Partners with DLC to Bring Clean Water to Local Malagasy Villagers by Emilia Chojkiewicz, Elizabeth Grifn, Emma Palmer, Charlie Pearlman and Cassandra Williams

Duke Engineers for Internatonal Development (DEID) is a student organizaton at Duke University that designs and implements sustainable engineering projects in the developing world. In additon to providing students with hands- on engineering experience, the organizaton also focuses on fundraising, raising awareness of the need for our projects, cultural immersion, and creatng long-lastng relatonships with the communites to which we travel. This past summer, with the help of the Duke Lemur Center (DLC), DEID sent a team to the SAVA region of Madagascar for the frst tme. Over the course of the 2015-2016 school year, a team was assembled of eight Duke undergraduates and one recent alumni, actng as a site coordinator. Two project leaders worked trelessly on the design of a rainwater catchment system, and the Duke Lemur Center SAVA Conservaton (DLC-SAVA) team helped us chose a site: a primary school building in the village of Manantenina, near the ofce of Marojejy Natonal Park. The rainwater catchment system collects rainwater through guters around the roof and stores this water in the tank for community members to use. From mid-May to early July, we were on the ground working to bring the idea from paper to concrete. While receiving hands on engineering experience, we also learned about the complexity of the clean water problem in the developing world. We collaborated with the DLC-SAVA, a local contractor, and professor Dr. David Schaad from the Duke Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Throughout the process of building the tank, we were amazed at the ingenious engineering practces of the Malagasy contractor. For example, to measure a 90 degree angle, a 3-4-5 triangle was used; to obtain a level plane, Bernoulli’s principle, using the water level in a clear tube, was applied; and to lif the one ton concrete lid, wooden branches were used as levers. The frst step in the constructon process was digging and pouring a solid four post foundaton, on which the water storage tank would sit. Afer a great deal of sawing and cutng boards, framework for the concrete tank was nailed into place and was ready for pouring. The concrete was mixed with water from the nearby river, and gravel was used from a nearby quarry, each a fve minute walk away. In general, most materials used were from local sources. In the fnal days of constructon, we painted the tank blue and green, drawing the map of the world as well as a larger map of Madagascar. As suggested by the Chief Fokontany of Manantenina, at the top of the tank, we wrote “Arovantsika Ny Tontolo Iainana” which translates to “we protect the environment.” In additon to the engineering project, we had many opportunites to immerse ourselves in Malagasy culture. Afer work, we would ofen play with the children, since they were frequently in the schoolyard - frisbee, singing and dancing games, and soccer were a few of our favorites. Hand in hand, our team and the kids would walk home from the school together, waving to villagers who all knew the “vazaha” (foreigners) were heading home. We formed strong connectons with the children, guides/translators Donaten and Coco, cooks Lex and Primo, and many other villagers. One weekend we atended a soccer game

DECEMBER 2016 VOL. 5, NO. 2 PAGE 19 Duke Engineers in SAVA Contnued between local village teams. A few other weekends were spent in Sambava, where we sampled various Malagasy food was and visited the pristne beaches on the Indian Ocean. We had the opportunity to atend an Environmental Day celebraton near the Anjanaharibe-Sud Reserve, and met distnguished government leaders of the SAVA region. Our last weekend in Madagascar was spent in Marojejy Natonal Park, where we had a chance to see many species of lemurs in their natve habitats and experience the beautful primary rainforest. Despite the large language barrier, afer six weeks in Manantenina there were many tearful goodbyes between us and our new Malagasy friends. While en route back to the U.S., we spent a day in the capital, Antananarivo. We were able to tour the city and visit the nearby Lemur Park, where lemurs lounged only an arm’s reach away. Because our partnership with the Manantenina community was so strong last summer, we plan to return to Madagascar in summer of 2017 and for many summers to come. This year, the DEID team will work on designing and implementng a water distributon system that will tap a groundwater source on top of a hill and bring it down to the main street of the village. Because this groundwater is naturally fltered through layers of sediment, it will be much cleaner than any surface water sources (i.e. the Manantenina river) that the community is currently using for drinking water. This summer will be focused on getng at least one line down to the village while summers in the future will be used to increase accessibility of the water by installing a distributon system of taps throughout the village and to increase capacity by installing tanks along the water line. As much as we hope that we have impacted the people of Manantenina, we are even more aware of the impact that our Madagascar experience has had on us. Our tme last summer broadened our global perspectve and our desires to fulfll our civic responsibility. Many of us have slightly altered our course of study to be more focused on providing services for those with limited access to resources that we all take for granted. Over half of our travel team from last year is now looking to pursue the Global Development Engineering Certfcate at Duke in order to beter understand how to apply our engineering knowledge to sustainably implement solutons to problems in the developing world. Additonally, half of our team has elected to return to the third world this coming summer as project leaders for both DEID Madagascar and Uganda. Together, the Duke Engineers for Internatonal Development and the Duke Lemur Center are making great strides towards clean water and conservaton in the SAVA region, and this is just the beginning.

DECEMBER 2016 VOL. 5, NO. 2 PAGE 20

Closing Comments Duke Lemur Center surpassed a signifcant milestone this year, as we celebrated our 50th anniversary, in September. DLC (frst known as the Duke University Primate Center) began as a research facility in the 1960s and since then has been the source for well over 1000 peer-reviewed publicatons about lemurs and other prosimians. But in additon to serving as a center for learning about lemurs, we also feel a responsibility to contribute towards protecton of lemurs in their country of origin, Madagascar. To that end, DLC has been involved in conservaton in Madagascar for the past 30 of DLC’s 50 year history. We cannot claim to have saved a partcular lemur species from extncton nor to be responsible for creaton of a reserve or natonal park, but conservaton work rarely provides such tangible victories. However, we would like to believe that through a consistent long term on the ground conservaton presence in Madagascar, both through the SAVA Conservaton project, and our leading role in the Madagascar Fauna and Flora Group, that in 30 years of conservaton work, we have made a diference in Madagascar – a diference in terms of forest protecton, but also with a human and community impact. As with forest destructon, it is ultmately local people that must be the drivers behind forest preservaton. They must feel that protecton of a certain percentage of natural forests is in their best interest for the long term. We look forward to contnued involvement with communites, and making steady conservaton progress in the SAVA for decades to come.

The SAVA Conservation Team

Charlie Welch – DLC Conservation Coordinator Dr. Marina Blanco – SAVA Conservation Project Coordinator Lanto Andrianandrasana – SAVA Conservation Project Manager

Miaro atiala, mamboly fiainana "Protect the forest, and life will grow"

DECEMBER 2016