The aim of the "Bamboo Lemur" conservation programme is to ensure that local populations and wildlife can live together in harmony, while guaranteeing the sustainable management of natural resources and the sustainable development of communities.
The Helpsimus association works to preserve greater bamboo lemurs (Prolemur simus) in Madagascar, a critically endangered species (classed "CR") on the IUCN Red List. To achieve this, it set up the "Bamboo Lemur" conservation programme, which combines scientific monitoring of the species and habitat protection with the provision of development aid for local villages and funding for children’s education.
Launched in 2008, the programme is being implemented in the south-east of the island on the outskirts of the Ranomafana National Park, where inhabitants live in extreme poverty and rely mainly on subsistence farming. The aim is to ensure that local populations and wildlife can live together in harmony, while guaranteeing the sustainable management of natural resources and the sustainable development of communities.
The project in question, which represents a new stage in the programme, involves guaranteeing the protection of the forest fragments that fall within the association’s geographical scope and, as a result, the biodiversity they harbour, which includes the largest population of greater bamboo lemurs in the wild. To do this, Helpsimus intends to implement a three-pronged strategy focused on the sustainable protection of the lemurs’ habitat (by reducing the pressures exerted on it), supporting education and raising awareness of environmental issues among children, and improving the association’s logistics.
