Madagascar conservation successes hinge on public education and health, famed primatologist says

Patricia Wright, a pioneering primatologist who established the Centre ValBio research station in Madagascar, began her work there in 1986. As the person who first described the golden bamboo lemur (Hapalemur aureus) to Western science, her contributions led to the creation of Ranomafana National Park, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. She joins the Mongabay Newscast to discuss her conservation breakthroughs and the challenges the island faces during political instability and widespread poverty.

Wright has participated in the making of numerous documentaries over the years, including Island of Lemurs: Madagascar, narrated by Morgan Freeman, and recently Ivohiboro: The Lost Forest and Surviving Alone: The Tale of Simone.

In this conversation, she describes key findings from the latter two films, including how Ivohiboro, a montane tropical forest surrounded by desert, was unknown to Western science until Wright set foot there in 2016. Films like these are a crucial part of marketing conservation, wildlife and places such as Madagascar, Wright says.

"It plays a pivotal role in the public understanding what the real issues are. I think the films [are] very important to get across the idea that there is a biodiversity crisis."

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The Mongabay Newscast is available on major podcast platforms, including Apple and Spotify. All previous episodes are accessible on the Mongabay website.

Image Credit: Diademed Sifaka (Propithecus diadema). Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay.

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Timecodes

(00:00) Madagascar's biodiversity crisis

(03:49) Establishing Ranomafana National Park

(08:23) Surviving Alone: The Tale of Simone

(17:22) Exploring the Ivohiboro rainforest

(30:41) Challenges and solutions in Madagascar conservation

(45:52) The importance of research stations