Seven Appalachian State University students worked in collaboration with students from James Madison University (JMU) and the University of Toamasina to study the agroforestry, forest ecology and conservation issues in tropical rainforest zones of Eastern Madagascar.
The four-week summer program offered through Appalachian's Sustainable Development Program was an idea started by Dr. Christof den Biggelaar, a sustainable development professor. Since 2005, den Biggelaar has personally been visiting Madagascar, but created the first faculty-led trip for students in 2011. Den Biggelaar partnered with Dr. Roshna Wunderlich, biology professor at JMU, to join the seven Appalachian students, five JMU biology students and three students from the University of Toamasina's Natural Resource Environmental Management Program to study Madagascar from a fauna perspective by observing lemurs, sustainable agriculture and tropical rainforest ecology.
"The trip really focused on sustainability, but traveling internationally also gives students a different perspective on issues of poverty, development and the lives of other people. It's important to be aware of cultural issues. It gives students a better appreciation of other cultures," den Biggelaar said.
During the trip, students visited various national parks and forests, sustainable agriculture projects and worked with nonprofit organizations that focus on conservation and social development. Students received academic credit for courses that examined the local pressures on Madagascar's natural resources and approaches for managing and conserving the flora and fauna.
The program started in Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar, where students spent time at the University of Antananarivo for a tour of the university's facilities. Professors there also taught the biology and ecology of Madagascar, as well as the challenges to conservation efforts before students traveled to the Ivoloina Conservation Training Center (ICTC) at Parc Ivoloina. Parc Ivoloina is a zoo conservation site managed by the summer program's local host, Madagascar Fauna Group (MFG), an international collaboration of zoos, universities and related institutions that focus on conserving Madagascar's lemurs and other wildlife.
Also on the trip, students:
Jonathon Hurst, a recent sustainable development graduate, said, "My favorite part of the trip was the real interactions we experienced with the local people. To experience a connection with someone who has an entirely different way of life and who lives in a completely different part of the world is truly an indescribable feeling, because underneath our petty differences we all had the same dream—to live in a way that allows future generations to experience the same bounties and beauties that the world has to offer."
Students also worked with HELP Madagascar, a Christian nonprofit organization based in Toamasina, Madagascar, which works with social and development issues through health, education and life-skills projects. The students worked with Colin and Kimberly Radford, the organization's founders, who opened the two-room primary school house where kids from nearby agricultural communities could continue their education. The organization also run several community clinics in the city of Toamasina and provides assistance to orphans.
As a service-learning activity, students devoted one day to work on various community service projects such as:
Logan Creech, a senior sustainable development major from Charleston, S.C., said, "If I can draw one main thing from this trip it would be that the people make up the city, not the environment or the buildings themselves. It was important to me to see how people directly affect the city and it's development. You can't teach that from a textbook.
"It makes a huge difference when you travel internationally or have any opportunity to apply what you are learning. It allows for self-discovery to use what you learn and apply it to your life and situations. On this trip, I did more in a month than I could have possibly planned for myself in a year."
Students visited University of Antananarivo, located in the capital of Madagascar, to learn from professors about the country's biology and ecology. Pictured is Mrs. Rakouth Bakolimalala, head of the Plant Biology Department, giving a tour of the rooftop garden of southern Malagasy plants. Photo provided by Logan Creech.