Blue Forests

A few weeks ago, I brought the company Blue Ventures into my organism presentation; here's a post about one of their programs in Madagascar -- it's called Blue Forests. It turns out that there are roughly 4,000 square kilometers of mangrove forests recorded in Madagascar. This is the among the top five largest collection of mangrove trees in all of Africa. Mangroves are not only a source of food for neighboring ecosystems, they are known for their unusual ability to sequester carbon dioxide and take greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere. Additionally, these trees protect coastline by buffering habitats from storms, small cyclones and even tsunami, they reduce erosion and pack soil, and they provide habitat for a number of marine species. Five years ago, Blue Ventures established the Blue Forests to encourage and equip communities in western Madagascar to preserve mangrove forests. A few pictures of their conservation efforts!

David

The Last Sovereign of Madagascar

Ranavalona III ruled from July 30, 1883 to February 28, 1897. Her Reign was marked by constant and ultimately unsuccessful efforts to resist the colonial designs of the French government. Ranavalona was selected from among several individuals qualified to succeed the previous ruler upon her death. As did previous rulers, Ranavalona entered a political marriage with a member of the Hova elite.

Queen Ranavalona tried to ward off colonization by strengthening economic ties and diplomatic relations with the United States and Great Britain. After numerous French attacks on costal towns and the eventual capture of the royal palace, Ranavalona was deposed of power.  She was exiled to Algiers, and although was permitted to travel, was not allowed to return to Madagascar. After Ranavalona died at the age of 55 in 1917, she was buried in Algeirs. Her remains were eventually moved back to Madagascar and placed in a tomb on the grounds of the Rova of Antananarivo.

-Michael 

(All information from wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranavalona_III )

History of the Madagascar Flag - Paulina Chamely BP3

A flag says a lot about a Countries history and culture and so I thought that it would be interesting to learn a bit about what their flag looks like, its origin and significance as well as the meaning behind the different colors chosen for the flag. Here it is:

The flag of Madagascar was adopted on 14 October 1958, two years before the independence of that nation, as Madagascar prepared for a referendum of its status in the French Community.

Flag of Madagascar Description : 
The flag of Madagascar is divided horizontally, with a red stripe on top and green below. Along the hoist side is a white vertical stripe, the same width as the red and green stripes.
The red on the flag traditionally represents the sovereignty of the nation, the green symbolizes hope, and the white shows purity.

History of the Flag of Madagascar :
During Madagascar's journey towards freedom, the emerging nation created this flag as a reflection of their historical traditions, signifying their independence. The colors in the flag represent the Malagasy people. The Merina Kingdom in what later became Madagascar was overtaken by French colonists, who invaded in 1883. This kingdom's royal monarch, Queen Ranavalona III had used red and white in the national flag. The green was incorporated to represent the common people, called the Hova, who played a significant role in anti-French agitation and the independence movement. The colors of the flag may also indicate the ethnic origins of the Malagasy people in Southeast Asia, and are shared by the flag of Indonesia.

some vexillology - Dylan

This is the national flag of Madagascar! It was adopted in 1958, two years before Madagascar became independent from France. The red and white in the modern Madagascar flag come from the Marina Kingdom's flag, which has a white stripe on top and a red on the bottom (bottom left.) This flag also has significance in the history of the Czech Republic, where it was the flag from 1918-1920 and 1990-1992. To avoid confusing the Marina Kingdom's flag with the national flag of Monaco, remember that the Marina Kingdom's flag is Electrode, while Monaco's flag is Voltorb. (See? Pokemon is so relevant to vexillology I can't even.)

The red, white, and blue flag to the right of the Marina Kingdom flag is the flag of the Malagasy Protectorate, which was used from 1885 to 1896. The Malagasy Protectorate was a French protectorate, so the flag's resemblance to a rotated French tricolor makes sense. From 1897 to 1958, the French flag flew over Madagascar, which was at the time a French colony.

The decision to add the green to the modern day Madagascar flag is a nod to the Hova, who played a large role in gaining independence from the French.

Review of the Traveller's Palm - Dylan

Ravenala madagascariensis (also known as the traveller's palm) is a flowering plant indigenous to Madagascar. Even though it's technically not a palm, it's known as the traveller's palm because the bases of its leaves can hold rainwater that a thirsty traveller might drink. In reality, the water would probably not be potable because of mosquito larvae and miscellaneous debris. Despite this the traveller's palm is a symbol of travel in Madagascar and is featured on the Air Madagascar logo.

The emblem of Madagascar also bears a resemblance to the plant.

It has been widely exported and can be an invasive plant in other tropical climates. Because it can reproduce via pollination as well as vegetatively, it's fairly hardy and can grow well outside of Madagascar. It's popular because of its characteristic inflorescences and its resemblance to birds of paradise.

The endangered ruffed lemur is its key pollinator in Madagascar, and it's possible that the ruffed lemur and the traveller's palm coevolved.

A New Baby Ancestor

How large is the baby of one of the largest creatures to walk the planet earth? Not that large as it turns out. In an article in Science, scientists discuss a fossil of a baby long-necked dinosaur (Rapetosaurus) that was recently discovered in Madagascar [1]. Initially mistaken for a crocodile fossil, the partial skeleton of the baby dinosaur suggests that the creature was only a few weeks old when it died, and weighed approximately 7.7 lbs. (3.5 kilograms). This would be a healthy weight for a human baby, but is surprisingly small for the offspring of an animal many times the size of an adult human once fully grown [2].

Despite being comparable in size to the babies of rhinos and hippos, the Rapetosaurus grows to be substantially larger. This discovery is illustrative of the many wonders of animal physiology found on Madagascar, and the lessons we still have to learn from "the eighth contenent." 

-Michal (aka MadaMike)

[1]  http://www.australianetworknews.com/scientists-find-baby-long-necked-dinosaur-in-madagascar/

[2]  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_body_weight

In the footsteps of National Geographic Explorer, Dr. Christopher Golden!

If you have ventured to Stanford, chances are you’re an explorer at heart. If not, who doesn’t want to become one?

Chris was in our shoes once…well, a little earlier. At 13, he read the Aye Aye and I, Gerald Durrell’s winning account of a quest through the forests of Madagascar in search of that otherworldly creature, perhaps the endemic to Madagascar that appears to be most alien to earth. Nose in book, Chris's imagination would have been drawn far overseas at this tender age by passages such as this...

"In the gloom it came along the branches towards me - its round, hypnotic eyes blazing; its spoon-like ears turning to and fro independently like radar dishes; its white whiskers touching and moving like sensors; the thin, attenuated fingers on its black hands tapping delicately on the branches as it moved along, like those of a pianist playing a complicated piece by Chopin.” 

Tantalized by this glimpse of another world in The Aye Aye and I, National Geographic’s '88 article Into the Wilds, and other inspiriting resources, Chris was bound for Madagascar at the “ripe old age of 16.”

Chris signed up to help track that non-felid semblance of a panther, the fosa, through the Ankarafantsikan forests of northwestern Madagascar with one of the field’s foremost big cat conservationists, Dr. Luke Dollar. Luke came to Madagascar to set eyes on the lemurs too, but when he did, he found something else had discovered and devoured his quarry first – the fosa. When Chris set eyes on one of his first lemurs, he also was too late. However, this time, the predator was man. The lemur hung dead from a rope, noosed in a trap, proto-bushmeat. At that moment, Chris recalls a "feeling of profound sadness I had, seeing this dead lemur hanging there." So would we all. Chris, a thoroughly compassionate person, was even "questioning whether this was the right research for me.” But something Chris would have read in the The Aye Aye and I was, “in conservation, the motto should always be ‘never say die’.” Whether or not Chris drew his persistence - like his inspiration - from Gerald Durrell, on he went.

Year after year, Chris returned to Madagascar, for reasons we’ll soon understand when we try to tear ourselves away from this primordial Ark of wonders. He decided to not only investigate the lemurs endangered by hunting, but the hunters endangering the lemurs. No one before him had undertaken the subsistence bushmeat question in Madagascar to its full dimensions. As Chris puts it, “the bushmeat question, from a conservation perspective, is quite simple: hunting wildlife can…perpetuate endangerment.” But the key distinction and advance Chris made in his research was noting the public health implications of bushmeat as well. He argued there are “benefits to bushmeat, such as improving local nutrition” but also tremendous risks from “zoonotic diseases or intestinal parasites.” In recognizing both sides of the coin, so to speak, Chris made that critical leap in a conservationist’s understanding of perceiving not only wildlife’s need for reduced hunting, but humans’ dependence on hunting. “I really do believe in conservation…in protecting biodiversity,” he concludes, “but if I had to make the same decisions they’re [the Malagasy people] are making, whether to save this abstract concept of biodiversity or feed my family, I would absolutely be making the same decisions.”

Today, Chris looks for innovative ways to provide alternatives to bushmeat hunting in Madagascar, and recently, he's also been addressing challenges far beyond this eighth continent, great as it is. Not only has he been named a National Geographic Explorer, he has directed a Wildlife Conservation Society program called Health & Ecosystems: Analysis of Linkages (HEAL) to probe the interconnections between environmental and human health. Most recently, he's been co-directing the newly founded Planetary Health Alliance, a multi-institutional collaborative building an “unprecedented effort to address major public health threats caused by human impacts on the natural world.”

Yes, Madagascar is a microcosm of global environmental challenges at their worst, and, at their best. “Invert, always invert,” as the great mathematician (19^th c.) Carl Jacobi admonished, and Madagascar may hold not only worldwide challenges, but exemplary solutions to them – and a training ground for those who would build them.

Hear Dr. Golden here. Get to know him and/or his work. He’s a remarkably thoughtful, helpful and approachable person.

Chris Golden & Nat Geo

More, straight from the horses' mouths; i.e., sources:

http://ensia.com/interviews/christopher-golden-on-the-front-lines-of-health-and-the-environment/

https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Aye_aye_and_I.html?id=z1dsh3qIKdYC

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/explorers/bios/christopher-golden/

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/planetary-health-alliance-launched-to-address-public-health-threats/

(Emma)