Malagasy Conservationists and Environmental Educators: Life Paths into Conservation
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
3. Results
3.1. Main Stimuli that Awakened Interest in the Natural World
“I remember it was especially during my university studies, […] when I was in the 4th year, they took me to travel in the forest of ‘Montagne d’Ambre’ [National Park] and I believe this is the experience in the environmental domain that I liked the most in my life, because it’s discovering something else, discover forests, waterfalls especially, and the sea. It is then I think where I started to love nature.”
“When I was in the second year, we made an excursion to Andasibe [National Park]. And this was the first time in my life that I saw the lemurs in their natural habitat. And one of our professors explained a lot, the role of lemurs, their importance, and from then on, I started to be interested in biodiversity, especially the endemic biodiversity of Madagascar.”
“It started in 1999, we finally went to university, I was already in the department of Palaeontology, we learned... but... the fact of going into the field to see the things in the forest, that’s different. Learning theoretically, and seeing reality, that made the difference. Yes. Because we learned as in school to get good grades and to pass exams and that was the most important thing before. But after this experience it was different.”
“I remember I enjoyed it, because when we had an excursion or picnic we used to come to a place like that [picnic area with tree plantation]. So I feel, I saw the difference like coming from town to go to a place like that, even if it’s not too far from Tana [the capital Antananarivo]. But I’ve noticed there is a big difference, much better air you can get and the fresh water, just to see that. So I started to be more interested in that.”
“People from Missouri Botanical Garden. They are international researchers, such as Dr. Chris Birkinshaw, Dr. Pete Lowry, mainly these two persons.”
“Patricia Wright was among the people who influenced me. She discovered new species and has always talked about this discovery of new lemur species, so it is really something to discover!”
“It was especially Alison Jolly, but later it also was the passion of the students, and their involvement. This pushed me further. Because when I saw that they were interested, that pushed me even more to get involved with them, to continue, thus supporting all their actions.”
“I had fallen in love with lemurs, not only their beauty, but their importance too, so when I learned the importance of primates, I thought: for the pioneers for the gorillas, it was Dian Fossey, for the pioneers of chimpanzees it is Jane Goodall, and in Madagascar it was Allison Jolly. And I dream for me, wow, why not, one day, I will be famous too, not just famous, but somebody important contributing to the conservation of biodiversity.”
“I was a student at a non-governmental organization when I made my DEA [equivalent to Master’s degree] and there we communicated with international researchers and I said to friends and colleagues, ‘I’m Malagasy, so when I do my research, I’d like to become the investigator one day but not always only the assistant’. It is like a challenge.”
“There was someone who was a guide in Masoala at that time. And he knew all the species, but only their name in Malagasy, and he taught us a lot […], he opened us towards other species, the lemurs and frogs, and all this, and what I remember very well of him, he taught me the smells of the forests, and also the noise and he told me when the birds stop singing, that it will rain […]. And he also taught me that when the frogs are croaking, it means that the weather will be fine and you can stay as long as you want to in the forest. I think he really is an expert, but with his local knowledge, not translated into scientific knowledge.”
“I think the one experience that I got is when I went to the library and was just reading a book containing all the stuff that I saw for the first time; to see all the animal pictures and plant pictures sparked my interest in nature because I never had the opportunity to get to a forest when I was in Tana […]. And after that I tried to, want more, to see animal reports, documentaries, to try to ask my mum to take me to the zoo or something like that.”
“When I was little, I was already interested in the environment, it was already something I was passionate about, I love nature and everything. I liked books very much already, but there was the magazine ‘Vintsy’, so I learned a lot from this magazine.”
“And then in the fourth year I participated in the TBA, Tropical Biology Association field course and I was in Uganda, and there too we learned a lot of things, biodiversity of Africa in general, plants and all that, and that also prompted me to become responsible because the endemic biodiversity belongs to Madagascar and as I’m Malagasy, I feel responsible to participate in the conservation of Madagascar.”
“When I was a child, I was afraid of animals. I was afraid of chickens, cats, yes. That’s among the Malagasy, most Malagasy are afraid of animals. But when I was 19 years old I went to Russia […] to learn breeding of domestic animals. And it’s there I learned to love animals.”
“In the Department of Paleontology, we were looking for fossils, we went to the forest and we found traps, captured lemurs in the traps… so that’s urgent. It was necessary to ‘switch’, i.e., the fossils can wait in the ground and we must save the living.”
“Seeing the degradation that exists all around in our environment. After that, it was from reading books, as I said.”
Friends. These were influential for 22%, e.g., in the choice of specialization, and during the course of studies:
“When I was in the fourth year it was peer influence. It’s very weird. So, my friends were saying “Ah, I’ll do this, I’ll do that, and you, what are you going to do?’. It’s not, what do you WANT to do, but what WILL you do. And everyone said that botany is interesting and afterwards there is something to do and I chose botany.”
“We were a group, a group of young students. We were five people, each one with his specialization, the lemurs, reptiles, birds and all that, who formed a group. And I met these passionate people around me who gave me courage, and who made me love the profession we do.”
“I’m not a pure conservationist to say: the plant is the most important thing, it is not that. For me, if you are studying plants, to do plant conservation, it is mainly for humankind. So I started to think that working in environmental conservation, plant conservation, is for human development.”
“In fact what I wanted to do was rural development. I didn’t and don’t want to leave the rural setting, but to improve it. And that’s why I chose agronomy as my field of study. Because most of the time the farmers, the rural people, they are poor.”
“No, on the contrary, people tried to influence me to choose another field such as medicine, but I was not interested in that.”
“My parents don’t have any background at all regarding animals. By the way, before, in Madagascar, studying animals… this was silly, especially the animals of the forest. I still remember that there were situations when we talked about the forest: these are bad things, bad spirits, so working in the forest that’s where there are bad spirits. It was not my parents but in general people talked like that.”
“And then my parents, during holidays, we did not travel, but we went to the countryside, and one does not have this feeling of being enclosed in a house, in a yard, but one has the feeling of being free. It may be this that I liked back then and what I later found in the forest again... as we were so free.”
“It is for love, and... well, it is in view of the situation […]. I said: oh, what is the future of the next generation? So, in view of the state of biodiversity, what needs to be done, so there is a very urgent need to conserve that.”
3.2. Choice of Profession
“I think it really was love of nature and a vision of freedom I have in nature. And it is later that I began to understand that people depend on nature. The value of biodiversity, the practical value of biodiversity and everything, that everyone, all life depends on biodiversity.”
“As I said before, there was already this passion, so maybe it was pushed by the context I was following, developing awareness, so more passion and more awareness.”
“A combination of two things. Even if it is not by love, but by conviction […] and by seeing the reality of the people.”
“Love of my home country. Love of country, because the country is really the people, the population […]. Everything together, not only nature, but all together.”
“Well, it’s a bit difficult to explain this, but you know in Madagascar, opportunities for work are very limited. So you have to take the opportunity if there is one. You have to love and you must develop it.”
4. Discussion
4.1. Higher Education Offers New Perspectives
4.2. Several Day Excursions as Transformative Experiences for Young Adults
4.3. Negative Experiences
4.4. Working for the Environment: between Vocation and Chance
5. Implications for Education and Conservation
“The most important experience is, well, to spend time in the forest. To see, to observe, to admire the beauty of nature.”
Acknowledgments
Author Contributions
Conflicts of Interest
Appendix A
Category | Definition/ Examples |
---|---|
Education Setting/field trip Persons | Formal courses or settings. Extracurricular activities such as field trips. Inspiring teachers or educators. |
Media Book or author Television | Influential books or authors. Magazines or educational journals. Television programmes or documentaries. |
Travel | Stays in foreign countries. Trips to distant regions in the country. |
Organizations | Participation in outdoor, environmental, or social equity groups or associations. |
Negative experiences Habitat destruction Pollution, radiation | Destruction of a favorite natural place. Decline or threat of a species or habitat. Observation or fear of environmental pollution or radiation. |
Influence of friends | Influence of peers on choice of profession or field of study. Mediation of job opportunity or membership in environmental organization by friends. Team spirit. |
Sense of social justice | Unfair treatment of people, especially the poor and vulnerable. Conviction that everyone should have access to a healthy environment. Experience of own or other people’s poverty. |
Family Parents Others | Pro-environmental values cultured by a family member. Environmental experiences led by or shared with (grand-) parents, or others. Family role models in the areas of social justice or activism. Familial support for environmental efforts. |
Experience of natural areas | Valued childhood places. Home or vacation surroundings such as forests, fields, lakes or mountains. Outdoor activities in natural environments, e.g., camping, hiking, bird watching. Adult stays in valued natural settings. |
Concern for (grand) children | Aspiration to preserve a healthy environment for future generations. |
Vocation | Job experiences that initiated or deepened environmental concern or commitment. |
Principles or religion | Belief in holiness of nature, or the intrinsic right of its existence. Conviction that intact ecosystems are crucial. Environmental work as meaningful contribution to a better world. |
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Sources | Mention Rate (%) |
---|---|
Education | 78 |
Setting/field trip | 78 |
Persons | 67 |
Media | 44 |
Book or author | 33 |
Television | 22 |
Travel | 44 |
Organizations | 22 |
Negative experiences | 22 |
Habitat destruction | 22 |
Pollution, radiation | 0 |
Friends | 22 |
Sense of social justice | 22 |
Family | 11 |
Parents | 0 |
Others | 11 |
Experience of natural areas | 11 |
Concern for (grand)children | 11 |
Vocation | 0 |
Principles or religion | 0 |
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Reibelt, L.M.; Richter, T.; Rendigs, A.; Mantilla-Contreras, J. Malagasy Conservationists and Environmental Educators: Life Paths into Conservation. Sustainability 2017, 9, 227. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9020227
Reibelt LM, Richter T, Rendigs A, Mantilla-Contreras J. Malagasy Conservationists and Environmental Educators: Life Paths into Conservation. Sustainability. 2017; 9(2):227. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9020227
Chicago/Turabian StyleReibelt, Lena M., Torsten Richter, Antje Rendigs, and Jasmin Mantilla-Contreras. 2017. "Malagasy Conservationists and Environmental Educators: Life Paths into Conservation" Sustainability 9, no. 2: 227. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9020227
APA StyleReibelt, L. M., Richter, T., Rendigs, A., & Mantilla-Contreras, J. (2017). Malagasy Conservationists and Environmental Educators: Life Paths into Conservation. Sustainability, 9(2), 227. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9020227