The Madagascar Fauna and Flora Group (MFG) is an international consortium of zoos and other conservation agencies which pool resources to help conserve animal species in Madagascar, through captive breeding programs, field research programs, training programs for rangers and wardens, and acquisition and protection of native habitat in

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

. It is a

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

working in conjunction with the Ministry of Water, Forests, and the Environment,

Government of Madagascar Politics of Madagascar takes place in a framework of a semi-presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Madagascar is head of state and the Prime Minister of Madagascar is head of government, and of a pluriform mul ...

. It is the organization behind the Save the Lemur campaign and is headquartered at the

Saint Louis Zoo The Saint Louis Zoo, officially known as the Saint Louis Zoological Park, is a zoo in Forest Park, St. Louis, Missouri. It is recognized as a leading zoo in animal management, research, conservation, and education. The zoo is accredited by the ...

Origins

The organization was formed in response to a plea by the Government of Madagascar to the international zoo community in 1987 to help conserve species and habitat in Madagascar and provide training and knowhow for such activities. The plea was made at a meeting held at St. Catherines Island,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, United States. Convened by the

Wildlife Conservation Society The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is a non-governmental organization headquartered at the Bronx Zoo in New York City, that aims to conserve the world's largest wild places in 14 priority regions. Founded in 1895 as the New York Zoological ...

and the Conservation Breeding Specialist Group of the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

, it was attended by the

Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust is a conservation organization with a mission to save species from extinction. Gerald Durrell founded the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust as a charitable institution in 1963 with the dodo as its symbol. T ...

(then Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust) headed by

Gerald Durrell Gerald Malcolm Durrell, (7 January 1925 – 30 January 1995) was a British naturalist, writer, zookeeper, conservationist, and television presenter. He founded the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and the Jersey Zoo on the Channel Island o ...

Parc Zoologique et Botanique de Mulhouse The Mulhouse Zoological and Botanical Park is a French zoological park located in the Grand Est region in the departement of Haut-Rhin, in the southeast of the city of Mulhouse, district of Rebberg. Created in 1868 by philanthropists industrialis ...

, the Strasborg consortium, the

Duke Lemur Center The Duke Lemur Center is an sanctuary for rare and endangered strepsirrhine primates, located at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. It is the largest sanctuary for strepsirrhine primates in the world. The center is open to the public ...

, and several US zoos. These institutions became the founding members of the group when it was formalized in 1988. As of August 2021, the organization has 30 member institutions. The two logos of the organization sport two of Madagascar's oft championed species for conservation – the

ruffed lemur The ruffed lemurs of the genus ''Varecia'' are strepsirrhine primates and the largest extant lemurs within the family Lemuridae. Like all living lemurs, they are found only on the island of Madagascar. Formerly considered to be a monotypic genus, ...

and the

aye-aye The aye-aye (''Daubentonia madagascariensis'') is a long-fingered lemur, a strepsirrhine primate native to Madagascar with rodent-like teeth that perpetually grow and a special thin middle finger. It is the world's largest nocturnal primate. ...

Goals

The six major goals of the MFG, as outlined in their mission statement, are: *Providing training and support at Parc Ivoloina, Madagascar's premier zoological park and resort. Support includes outreach and educational programs, and veterinary support. *Protection of National Parks and Wildlife Reserves, notably the

Betampona Reserve Betampona Reserve is a nature reserve in Toamasina Province of Madagascar. It is located 40 km northwest of Toamasina Toamasina (), meaning "like salt" or "salty", unofficially and in French Tamatave, is the capital of the Atsinanana region ...

, where the MFG have started the re-introduction of captive-bred

s into the wild. *Promoting and funding field work pertaining to Madagascar fauna, flora and habitat. Cases in point are the side-necked turtle, the

Malagasy pond heron The Malagasy pond heron (''Ardeola idae''), also known as the Madagascar pond heron or Madagascar squacco heron, is a species of heron of the family Ardeidae. They breed in Madagascar, Réunion and the Seychells, and spend the non-breeding se ...

and a range of lemur species. *Managing captive breeding programs for Madagascar species in and outside Madagascar, co-ordinating amongst the various member organizations. *Planning conservation goals in conjunction with the

Madagascar National Parks Association Madagascar National Parks, formerly known as ''l'Association Nationale pour la Gestion des Aires Protégées'' (ANGAP), was founded in 1991 and is charged with managing a network of 46 National Parks, Special Reserves and Integral Nature Reserve ...

*Educating zoo visitors worldwide about Madagascar's biological heritage Among their campaigns is Save the Lemur, a drive to raise funds and generate awareness about the plight of lemur species in Madagascar.

References

External links

*{{Official website, http://www.madagascarfaunaflora.org/ Environmental organizations based in the United States Nature conservation in Madagascar Saint Louis Zoo Foreign charities operating in Madagascar