Indigenous silk moth farming as a means to support Ranomafana National Park

We envisage a world where the rural poor can derive a livelihood from protecting forests instead of cutting them down; where development planners understand that habitat health is the keystone for human health and survival, and where conservation biologists understand that long - term solutions to biodiversity loss must be built around social programs which enable local people to thrive. Our vision, however, can only be achieved when scientists express the role of biodiversity conservation in economic terms (Baird and Dearden 2003), and development planners understand environmental complexity and its role in poverty alleviation. Our long - term goal is to develop a generalized approach to biodiversity conservation that will enable scientists and development professionals to identify, plan and initiate sustainable, small - scale businesses in ecologically important areas. This paper reports on a recent study to expand current production of wild silk and explore new types of silk as one economic means of biodiversity protection in Madagascar. Madagascar is one of the most important centers of world biodiversity and 90% of its species are forest dwelling. Nevertheless, 80% of the population are subsistence farmers (Kistler and Spack 2003), and the predominant agricultural practice is “tavy” or slash and burn. Less than 10 % of the original forest remains. Development and conservation communities can effectively prevent deforestation only when they counter the macroeconomic forces that drive people to clear land. Small-scale farmers cut down forests because national and international policies, market conditions or local institutions do not provide them with reasonable alternatives (Tomich et al. 2005). Furthermore, even when alternatives are made available, results are difficult to achieve in a short time. At least some actions need to be implemented pro-actively, in sites that are currently healthy but near areas of potential population growth. We have been working for the past year to develop an approach to identify high value export products (i.e. products whose value is likely to be least vulnerable to macroeconomic shock; Castellano and San 2005), that can be found in areas of high biodiversity and conservation importance. One such product may be wild silk. Wild silk can be sustainably harvested in remote areas and easily transported to commercial centers. To determine if wild silk is a potential means of income generation for people living in areas of Madagascar where silk has not been traditionally produced, we gathered three types of information: 1. The diversity of silk producing larvae in the Eastern Forest Corridor and specifically in Ranomafana 2. The physical properties of larval silk and their estimated commercial value 3. How to apply our data in order to select sites where wild silk production could have a maximum economic and conservation effect We emphasize that the work reported here is preliminary and that we are working to expand our database for silkworm larvae and potential projects sites. All of these data will be posted on the website for Conservation through Poverty Alleviation (www.cpali.org) as we progress. Elsewhere we report the life-history biology of the species found to date and analyze the economic resources that will need to be generated by local com-munities to engage in silk production for commercial markets (Craig and Weber, in prep.)

Ecoéthologie des vecteurs et transmission du paludisme dans la région rizicole de basse altitude de Mandritsara, Madagascar

International audienceTo evaluate the determining factors of the malaria transmission in the northwest region of Madagascar, transversal studies were carried out through one year, from March 1997 to April 1998, in two villages located near Mandritsara, at less than 300 meters above sea level. The rice-growingregion forms an intermediate zone between the central highlands with epidemic and instable malaria and the coastal zone with endemic and stable malaria. Mosquitoes were collected when landing on humans during the night and by pyrethrum spray catches as regards endophilic mosquitoes. Three vectors were identified : Anopheles arabiensis, An.gambiae and An. funestus. An. arabiensis and An. gambiae were exophagic and zoophilic.An.funestus was endo-exophagic and anthropophilic but this species shows also a zoophilic trophic deviation. In both villages, An. funestus is the main vector of human malaria. Malaria transmission was estimated to be around 50 and 70 infective bites/person/year in each village.Pour évaluer les facteurs qui déterminent la transmission du paludisme dans la région nord-est de Madagascar, des enquêtes entomologiques ont été menées d’avril 1997 à mars 1998 dans deux villages situés dans la région de Mandritsara, à moins de 300 mètres d’altitude. Cette région est une zone rizicole importante et fait partie de la zone intermédiaire entre les Hautes terres à paludisme instable, épidémique et la région côtière à paludisme stable endémique.Les moustiques ont été récoltés par des captures sur hommes volontaires et par des collectes matinales des moustiques endophiles. Les vecteurs ont été Anopheles arabiensis, An. gambiae et An. funestus. An. funestus a été le vecteur majeur du paludisme; il n'a pas présenté d'aptitude particulière pour l'endophagie ou l'exophagie; il a essentiellement présenté une anthropophilie mais avec une tendance zoophile marquée. Le taux entomologique d’inoculation a été d’environ 50 piqûres infectantes par homme et par an dans le premier village et 70 dans le deuxième

Geographical and environmental approaches to urban malaria in Antananarivo (Madagascar)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Previous studies, conducted in the urban of Antananarivo, showed low rate of confirmed malaria cases. We used a geographical and environmental approach to investigate the contribution of environmental factors to urban malaria in Antananarivo.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Remote sensing data were used to locate rice fields, which were considered to be the principal mosquito breeding sites. We carried out supervised classification by the maximum likelihood method. Entomological study allowed vector species determination from collected larval and adult mosquitoes. Mosquito infectivity was studied, to assess the risk of transmission, and the type of mosquito breeding site was determined. Epidemiological data were collected from November 2006 to December 2007, from public health centres, to determine malaria incidence. Polymerase chain reaction was carried out on dried blood spots from patients, to detect cases of malaria. Rapid diagnostic tests were used to confirm malaria cases among febrile school children in a school survey.</p> <p>A geographical information system was constructed for data integration. Altitude, temperature, rainfall, population density and rice field surface area were analysed and the effects of these factors on the occurrence of confirmed malaria cases were studied.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Polymerase chain reaction confirmed malaria in 5.1% of the presumed cases. Entomological studies showed <it>An. arabiensis </it>as potential vector. Rice fields remained to be the principal breeding sites. Travel report was considered as related to the occurrence of <it>P. falciparum </it>malaria cases.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Geographical and environmental factors did not show direct relationship with malaria incidence but they seem ensuring suitability of vector development. Absence of relationship may be due to a lack of statistical power. Despite the presence of <it>An. arabiensis</it>, scarce parasitic reservoir and rapid access to health care do not constitute optimal conditions to a threatening malaria transmission. However, imported malaria case is suggestive to sustain the pocket transmission in Antananarivo.</p

Indigenous silk moth farming as a means to support Ranomafana National Park: report on a feasibility study

We envisage a world where the rural poor can derive a livelihood from protecting forests instead of cutting them down; where development planners understand that habitat health is the keystone for human health and survival, and where conservation biologists understand that long - term solutions to biodiversity loss must be built around social programs which enable local people to thrive. Our vision, however, can only be achieved when scientists express the role of biodiversity conservation in economic terms (Baird and Dearden 2003), and development planners understand environmental complexity and its role in poverty alleviation. Our long - term goal is to develop a generalized approach to biodiversity conservation that will enable scientists and development professionals to identify, plan and initiate sustainable, small - scale businesses in ecologically important areas. This paper reports on a recent study to expand current production of wild silk and explore new types of silk as one economic means of biodiversity protection in Madagascar.Madagascar is one of the most important centers of world biodiversity and 90% of its species are forest dwelling. Nevertheless, 80% of the population are subsistence farmers (Kistler and Spack 2003), and the predominant agricultural practice is “tavy” or slash and burn. Less than 10% of the original forest remains. Development and conservation communities can effectively prevent deforestation only when they counter the macroeconomic forces that drive people to clear land. Small-scale farmers cut down forests because national and international policies, market conditions or local institutions do not provide them with reasonable alternatives (Tomich et al. 2005). Furthermore, even when alternatives are made available, results are difficult to achieve in a short time. At least some actions need to be implemented pro-actively, in sites that are currently healthy but near areas of potential population growth.We have been working for the past year to develop an approach to identify high value export products (i.e. products whose value is likely to be least vulnerable to macroeconomic shock; Castellano and San 2005), that can be found in areas of high biodiversity and conservation importance. One such product may be wild silk. Wild silk can be sustainably harvested in remote areas and easily transported to commercial centers. To determine if wild silk is a potential means of income generation for people living in areas of Madagascar where silk has not been traditionally produced, we gathered three types of information:1. The diversity of silk producing larvae in the Eastern Forest Corridor and specifically in Ranomafana, 2. The physical properties of larval silk and their estimated commercial value, 3. How to apply our data in order to select sites where wild silk production could have a maximum economic and conservation effect. We emphasize that the work reported here is preliminary and that we are working to expand our database for silkworm larvae and potential projects sites. All of these data will be posted on the website for Conservation through Poverty Alleviation (www.cpali.org) as we progress. Elsewhere we report the life-history biology of the species found to date and analyze the economic resources that will need to be generated by local communities to engage in silk production for commercial markets (Craig and Weber, in prep.)

Culicidae, Mosquitoes, Moka gasy

International audienc

Culicidae, Mosquitoes, Moka gasy

International audienc

Ecoéthologie des vecteurs et transmission du paludisme dans la région rizicole de basse altitude de Mandritsara, Madagascar

International audienceTo evaluate the determining factors of the malaria transmission in the northwest region of Madagascar, transversal studies were carried out through one year, from March 1997 to April 1998, in two villages located near Mandritsara, at less than 300 meters above sea level. The rice-growingregion forms an intermediate zone between the central highlands with epidemic and instable malaria and the coastal zone with endemic and stable malaria. Mosquitoes were collected when landing on humans during the night and by pyrethrum spray catches as regards endophilic mosquitoes. Three vectors were identified : Anopheles arabiensis, An.gambiae and An. funestus. An. arabiensis and An. gambiae were exophagic and zoophilic.An.funestus was endo-exophagic and anthropophilic but this species shows also a zoophilic trophic deviation. In both villages, An. funestus is the main vector of human malaria. Malaria transmission was estimated to be around 50 and 70 infective bites/person/year in each village.Pour évaluer les facteurs qui déterminent la transmission du paludisme dans la région nord-est de Madagascar, des enquêtes entomologiques ont été menées d’avril 1997 à mars 1998 dans deux villages situés dans la région de Mandritsara, à moins de 300 mètres d’altitude. Cette région est une zone rizicole importante et fait partie de la zone intermédiaire entre les Hautes terres à paludisme instable, épidémique et la région côtière à paludisme stable endémique.Les moustiques ont été récoltés par des captures sur hommes volontaires et par des collectes matinales des moustiques endophiles. Les vecteurs ont été Anopheles arabiensis, An. gambiae et An. funestus. An. funestus a été le vecteur majeur du paludisme; il n'a pas présenté d'aptitude particulière pour l'endophagie ou l'exophagie; il a essentiellement présenté une anthropophilie mais avec une tendance zoophile marquée. Le taux entomologique d’inoculation a été d’environ 50 piqûres infectantes par homme et par an dans le premier village et 70 dans le deuxième