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:: WHERE IS THE MFG?
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Quick Links
:: Ivoloina Conservation Training Center
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Tamatave/Toamasina Madagascar, the fourth largest island in the world at 587,041 km2 (27,765 sq mi), is divided into six provinces including the Tamatave Province. Tamatave, more properly referred to by its Malagasy name Toamasina, is the island's second largest city and home to its most important port. The below map provides the location of Parc Ivoloina and Betampona Natural Reserve from the city of Toamasina.
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Toamasina's Growth
Madagascar's population growth rate remains one of the world's highest at an annual average of 3%, a trend that is readily apparent in Toamasina. In 2005 the city's population was estimated at 200,568 and by 2008 it rose to 270,000.
 Getting There
Madagascar has made great strides towards improving the country's primary road systems over the past eight years such as the highway between Antananarivo to Toamasina. There remain however many challenges when traveling in rural areas and even major cities such as Toamasina. The increase in population, number of cars and commercial trucks has taken a toll on Toamasina's roads; the rate of road damage exceeds the rate of repairs and poor drainage creates additional hardships during the rainy season.
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MADAGASCAR FAUNA GROUP OFFICE IN TOAMASINA The MFG's Office is located in Toamasina, situated between the airport and the city's center. It's location is convenient for officials, teachers, students and so many others who do not have cars or motorbikes to commute to Parc Ivoloina. Since capacity building and environmental literacy are important goals, the MFG's library has and continues to grow. In addition to books covering a diversity of biodiversity and natural resource management topics, the library has also developed a collection of relevant scientific papers in PDF format and offers students access to the internet free of charge. These improvements have seen a significant increase in the library's use by high school and college students over the past few years.
PARC IVOLOINA - HOME TO THE IVOLOINA ZOO Parc Ivoloina is about 10 km north of the MFG's Office. Although the Zoo is a major tourist attraction, the number of Malagasy who visit the Zoo is xx greater than tourists. The transformation of Parc Ivoloina into a conservation research and education center has expanded its function and role in Toamasina.
IVOLOINA CONSERVATION AND TRAINING CENTER (ICTC) The ICTC was built at the request of community leaders who expressed their concern that the Toamasina Region did not have the institutional capacity to train the number of scientists and natural resource managers needed to address the region's environmental conservation challenges. Madagascar's Minister of the Environment (escorted in center photo by then MFG Program Manager Karen Freeman) was the Guest of Honor at the ICTC's inauguration in June 2006. The well-equipped laboratory is heavily used by University of Toamasina undergraduate and graduate students and especially when visiting experts such as Wildlife Conservation Society Ichthyologist, Dr. Paul Loiselle, lead a workshop.
BETAMPONA NATURAL RESERVE Betampona Natural Reserve, located 40 km from the MFG's Office , is a 2,228 hectare remnant of eastern lowland rainforest. Betampona is the site of the first and only lemur restocking program; specifically the MFG released zoo-born black and white ruffed lemurs into the Reserve. The research program that was initiated to study the lemurs has expanded since the early 1990s to one which is documenting the diversity and distribution of Betampona's flora and fauna, monitoring key populations and the climate over time as well as carrying out a variety of studies aimed at assisting Malagasy authorities develop and/or evaluate conservation management plans.
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