Fundraising projects
Fundraising projects
Donated:
€ 550
€ 550
Status:
4%
4%
Target:
€ 15,535
€ 15,535
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Recent Activity
Biodiversity Celebrated
The celebrations of the 'day of biodiversity' started at Centre Lambahoany. A day full of activities and events to create awareness on the importance of biodiversity, such as the election of Miss and Mr Biodiversité from at least 400 schoolchildren. B-Sarouk gave a wonderfull performance. After this the celebrations continued with a defile towards Avenue de l'Independance in the city center of Tamatave.
The following days the celebration continued at Park Ivoloina, a recreational, zoological and educational park, with expositions and explainations on the biodiversity in the region.
Posted: 12.06.2010
Marieke
commented
Great to read that all this is organised to increase awareness on biodiversity! Thanks for the update!
Posted: 01.07.2010
Celebrate Biodiversity
65 million years ago, Madagascar separated from the African mainland. This resulted in a unique ecosystem found nowhere else on earth.
There are an estimated 200.000 forms of life on Madagascar, of which 3/4 is endemic and can be found nowhere else. Some of many examples are 1000 flavours of orchids, several flavours of baobabs, 283 flavours of birds, 53 Lemurs, ect. In other words, Madagascar is a Biodiversity Hotspot.
The United nations have claimed the 22nd of may as the 'day of biodiversity', and have claimed 2010 the 'year of biodiversity'. Which makes Saturday the 22 th of may a special day, especially in Madagascar. This day will be celebrated and Centre Lambahoany will be part of it! It will be an exciting day full of presentations, speeches and activities.
So let's celebrate and protect the biodiversity of Madagascar!
Information source: Madagascar Wildlife: A Visitor’s Guide (Garbutt, Bradt and Schuurman, Bradt travel guide, April 2006).
Posted: 21.05.2010
Let's dance
Lemurs are a type of primate. They hang their home-sweet-home plaques only on the trunks of Madagascar trees. Yep, we are talking about more endemic species here. There is a great number of Lemur species present on Madagascar, 53 to be exact, but unfortunately this diversity is decreasing due to human influence.
Lemurs live in family groups or large troops, in which females are often dominant. This matriarchal society is unusual in the monkey and ape realm, where an alpha male is more common. I guess with the Lemurs feminism is there to stay... As in many animal societies smells and scents are important in Lemur culture. They use these to tell each other what’s up and how it’s hanging.
One type of Lemur is the Sifaka (see picture). This species is widely distributed on the island and comes in lots of flavours. But no matter what the flavour might be, each and every one of the Sifakas is a born dancer. Line dancing, moonwalking, polonaise dancing, whatever the occasion, they dance to impress! But seriously, it is a sight to be seen. Once on the ground they make the strangest moves…
Information source: Madagascar Wildlife: A Visitor’s Guide (Garbutt, Bradt and Schuurman, Bradt travel guide, April 2006).
Posted: 18.05.2010
Suzanne
commented
Thank you so much for introducing us to the animal life on Madagascar, keep up the good work!
Posted: 19.05.2010
Mark
donated to this project
Posted: 12.05.2010
€ 10
The party-all-night-long gecko and the early-riser-afraid-of-the-dark gecko
Madagascar and the Indian Ocean islands surrounding it, such as Mauritius and the Seychelles, represent a so-called biodiversity hotspot. Only few places in the World have a similarly high diversity in plants and animals. On top of that many of the species found in this hotspot cannot be found anywhere else in the World. For instance, at least 90 percent of Madagascar's reptiles are found only on Madagascar!
One type of reptile found in all colours and sizes is the smaller sized lizard known as gecko. Anyone who has ever met a gecko knows you cannot miss them. These funny little creatures are constantly calling out to each other by making chirping sounds.
Geckos come in two flavours, the party-all-night-long flavour and the early-riser-afraid-of-the-dark flavour. The nocturnal geckos usually have dull, brownish colours, while the day geckos are known as the ‘jewels of Madagascar’ because of their bright colours. I guess these geckos can’t have it all...
Most geckos have specialised scales in their feet with microscopic hooks on them, which allow them to cling to vertical surfaces and hang upside down. This results in geckos not only in your bed but also above it on the ceiling, next to you on the wall... they are literally all over the place.
But there is another funny thing about them: they lick their eyeballs! Once in a while you see their long, flat tongue shoot out of their mouth, land on their eyes and then slither back down into their mouth again… Yes, you heard it right! But they have good reason for this mildly weird behaviour. Their large, round eyes are only protected by single transparent scales, so no eyelids. It seems that these scales, just like the windscreen on your car, need to be cleaned once in a while, hence the licking of the eyeballs…
So, let’s consider the camouflage gecko. The mossy leaf-tailed or fringed gecko (genus Uroplatus) is an absolute master of disguise. At present 11 species are recognised, which differ in size from 6-7 cm up till 30 cm. But no matter how large they get, they are almost impossible to recognize, which the picture above illustrates. Their habitat is mostly rainforests but they are also found in deciduous forests, which lose their leafs in the fall. The larger species, as the one in the picture, tend to mimic tree bark, while the smaller ones look like dry leafs. I guess that’s why they are mostly found in rainforests, looking like a leaf in a leafless forest is not going to save you from the predators…
Information sources used for this text are Madagascar Wildlife: A Visitor’s Guide (Garbutt, Bradt and Schuurman, Bradt travel guide, April 2006) and the website http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org.
Posted: 08.05.2010
Suzanne
commented
Thank you for the great wildlife update. For me, it's love at first sight for the party-all-night-long gecko and the early-riser-afraid-of-the-dark gecko. I'll play it forward for this crazy bunch.
Posted: 10.05.2010
Harm
donated to this project
Hey, nice project...
Posted: 07.05.2010
€ 5
Jasper
donated to this project
Good Luck!
Posted: 06.05.2010
€ 15
Travelling by piroque is one of the ways of going to the ecotourism village of Fetraomby.
Ttravelling by piroque is a great opportunity of meeting the friendly people and seeing the wonderfull nature of Madagascar.
Posted: 04.05.2010
€ 5
Arahaba tratry ny Krismasy (Merry Christmas in Malagasy)
Message
Posted: 25.12.2009
Marissa supported this
good luck fundraising!
Posted: 21.12.2009
Training in Fetraomby
With pride, these villagers of Fetraomby show their training certificates, made possible by the Lambahoany project.
Several trainings are already being given in Fetraomby and more will follow soon.
One example is a training for nature guide:
This training is divided into two parts. One part is dedicated to increasing the villagers knowlegde of the flora and fauna around Fetraomby. The second part focusses in transferring this knowledge to the tourists and fitting this into the interests and (physical) capacities of the tourists during the guided tours.
Tourists taking this great tour through the forest are welcomed by our newly trained hosts in fetraomby. These women are trained in gastronomy and hosting and make sure the tourists have a pleasant stay by cleaning the bungalows and serving wonderfull malagasy dishes. And all of this in a hygienic setting, fit to the special wishes of the tourists and for a very reasonable price.
Soon trainings in accountancy, management and project organisation will be started, so in the future the organisation of tourism can develop independently of centre lambahoany.
We invite you to come and enjoy the nature and culture of Fetraomby and the hospitality and knowledge of its inhabitants!
Posted: 12.11.2009
Construction of the podium at Centre Lambahoany
The construction of the podium near the litchy trees.
Posted: 23.10.2009
The legend of Baba Koto
The newly trained guides of the trip don't only show Fetraomby, their village, but also the surrounding forest. By piroque (wooden kano) and hiking, tourist will see the forest of the corridor Akeniheny-Zahamena, in the east of Madagascar.
This corridor is very important to many species. We would like to tell more about the largest still living lemur, the Indri Indri. The Indri Indri is highly endangered and due to their special diet they don’t survive in captivity, which makes the corridor very important for them.
They live in small groups, mostly consisting of monogamous pairs with their offspring. Their call or song is unforgettable and can be compared with the song of a whale and heard over a distance of several kilometers. The Indri Indri are called as well Baba Koto in Madagascar. Several legends might explain their special call or song, their name of Baba Koto and why local taboo (fady) restricts harming or hurting them.
One legend tells the story of a father and son searching for honey in the forest. When they don’t come home, villagers start searching for them. Instead of finding the father and his son, they find two Indri Indri, which explains the name Baba Koto: the father of Koto or father Koto with his son.
Another legend tells the story of one brother calling the other :
Two brothers lived in the forest. One day one of the brothers choses to live outside the forest, he became human.The other stayed in the forest, he became the Indri Indri. The call of the Indri Indri is the call for his brother, the human.
Since the habitat of the Indri Indri is diminishing by slash-and-burn practices and wood collecting and also hunting starts to be a greater problem due to a decrease in local taboos.
Together with the capacity building for eco-tourism Centre Lambahoany takes care of improving the efficiency of local agricultural activities and preventing slash-and-burn practices.
In this way the tourists get an unforgettable trip and the people of Fetraomby get a higher income and better living conditions. Also this way there is less pressure on forest and thus better living conditions for the Indri Indri.
Posted: 04.10.2009
Centre Lambahoany presents: cultural events!
The recently built podium at Centre Lambahoany offers the unique opportunity in Toamasina to present cultural events. Vilon'Androy, a famous group from the south of Madagascar, which plays traditional music, recently gave a spectacular show.
Every weekend there is music and movies. Other activities at Centre Lambahoany (will) include: language and computer courses, meditation classes and Poekoelan self-defense courses for women and youth. Tourists have the possibility to stay in one of the bamboo bungalows located on the premises, offering them a good taste of local culture.
For more picture of group Vilon'Androy:
http://ariniaina.wordpress.com/2009/07/18/i-attended-a-great-concert-of-vilonandroy/
Posted: 12.09.2009
Water purification on solar energy installed in Fetraomby
A Naiade, a water purification system based on solar energy was recently installed in Fetraomby. The official presentation of the Naiade by the district head was off course by drinking a glass of safe drinking water.
Children from the surroundings come to school in Fetraomby. And now, before they enter the classes, they can fill their bottles with safe drinking water.
The Naiade can produce up till 3000 liters safe drinking water a day. It is a system that purifies the water by using two filters and a UV lamp, the electricity comes from a solar panel. The NAIADE has been kindly donated to Centre Lambahoany by the Atos Origin Third World Fund.
People from Fetraomby learned how to maintain the Naiade. See also: www.nedapnaiade.com.
Fetraomby owns a bungalow to welcome tourists, and four houses have an extra room for tourists. Latrines and douches have been built, for the villagers and for tourists who want to visit the beautiful surroundings of Fetraomby and see how the Naiade works.
Posted: 24.07.2009
Centre Lambahoany selected by the Dutch NCDO as one of five best small-scale projects in Africa
Centre Lambahoany was present at the “Africaday” in Den Haag as one of five selected projects by the Dutch NCDO (National Committee for International Cooperation and Sustainable Development) for the best small-scale project in Africa.
Centre Lambahoany was selected due to its integrated approach towards poverty reduction and nature conservation in and in the surroundings of Toamasina. Centre Lambahoany offers a training centre for ecotourism and durable agriculture and promotes the use of durable energy sources and safe drinking water.
An important founder of centre Lambahoany: Dhr. Rakotondrabe, Vice-rector and Prof. Historysciences at the University of Toamasina, Madagascar, came to support Centre Lambahoany at the ‘Africaday’. Visitors could see the Naïade, used to purify water by solar panels. This purifier is already present at the centre in Toamasina and another one will shortly be placed in Fetraomby, one of the small villages in the ecological corridor that is supported by the project.
Posted: 03.06.2009
Pilot training in eco-tourism a succes
In anticipation of the players' support for a training centre, we already started with a 1st pilot training for the villagers of Fetrahomby. The foto shows it was a success.
Posted: 27.02.2009
Centre Lambahoany wins eco-toerisme award!
Centre Lambaony has won an award from the Malgasy National Tourist Agency and the British organisation Responsible Travel for the most beautiful eco-touristic tour.
Travel organisations could compete by designing a 7-day tour around the Corridor Akeniheny-Zahamena. Fetraomby, our partner village, is located right in the middle of this corridor. Together with several local organisations Centre Lambahoany has worked out a tour. National park Andasibe and Mitsinjo, a national reserve opposite Andasibe tegenover Andasibe are a part of the tour. These partly fall under the responsibility of the Association of Villages.
The jury was impressed with our proposal and went to check out the tour themselves. And yes, we won 1st price and we will get free publicity as part of the award
This stresses the need for our training centre in support of the vilages engaging in eco-tourism!
Posted: 27.02.2009
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Project Information
Location
Toamasina, MG
Description
The project will support the entrepreneurship of the rural population in creating additional income from responsible tourism. The necessary training facilities will be prepared and the first trainings carried out. The training programme can be used for other villages in the region as well. The facilities will also be used for promoting the use of sustainable agriculture in the future. This project is part of a large programme also providing the villages with renewable energy and clean...Read more
View project application
Budget Breakdown
Running costs
€ 466
Material
€ 8,544
Services
€ 2,020
Logistics
€ 466
Staff
€ 3,418
Other
€ 621
TOTAL
€ 15,535
View project budget
Partner Information
Mission Statement
Vrienden van Toamasina and the Coopération MarGas pour le Développement Madagasikara, based in Madagascar, pursue the following main objectives: 1) Poverty reduction and community development in the province of Toamasina and its capital Tamatave; and 2) Conservation of the unique nature and culture of the province Toamasina.
Vrienden van Toamasina and the Coopération MarGas pour le Développement Madagasikara, based in Madagascar, pursue the following main objectives: 1) Poverty reduction and community development in the province of Toamasina and its capital Tamatave; and 2) Conservation of the unique nature and culture of the province Toamasina.
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Project Players
