Madagascar is an evolutionary experiment conducted on a big scale. Its plants and animals evolved in isolation, and as a result, about 90% of species on the island are found nowhere else in the world. Lemurs are the most famous and well-loved animals on Madagascar. But they are more than charming symbols; they are, in the words of Seacology Prize recipient Jonah Ratsimbazafy’s organization GERP, “guardians of the ecosystem, essential as pollinators and seed dispersers.” The steep decline in their populations jeopardizes whole forest ecosystems.

Some causes of their decline, especially habitat loss and poaching, are traceable to the country’s extreme poverty. It drives people to hunt wildlife to eat, clear forests for subsistence farming, and cut mangroves to make charcoal for cooking fuel. This project will help a community protect its forest and educate its children—two actions that can reduce poverty.

The community co-manages, along with GERP, the Mahadrodroka protected area in the northwestern Madagascar. The area contains both dry deciduous forest and mangrove areas. There are six lemur species, two of which are critically endangered. The Madagascar fish eagle, a critically endangered raptor, also lives there. There are two species of baobab trees, another icon of Madagascar.

The community association manages 7,870 acres; they will patrol and protect 3,511 acres of it. Each year, they will create a 500-meter firebreak to protect the core of the forest from wildfires, always a serious threat. Patrols will deter outsiders from logging, hunting lemurs, or cutting mangroves for charcoal. Community members, with guidance from GERP, will also replant five acres of dry forest and five of mangroves each year.

The new two-room primary school, with toilets (significant because they are rare in many areas) will serve 164 students, 100 of whom are girls. Because many Malagasy children are not able to attend school regularly—only about 60% finish primary school—students will range in age from six to 14.