MADAGASCAR

All activities in Madagascar are coordinated by Chris Birkinshaw and Fidy Ratovoson and all work in conducted in collaboration with the Centre National d'Applications et des Rescherches Pharmaceuticques (CNARP). Typically the fieldwork team is composed of one botanist from MBG, two botanists from CNARP, and one botanist and one guide from Conservation International. Associate Program 1 of the ICBG has two main responsibilities in Madagascar:

• to complete, with CNARP, the first stage of bioprospecting i.e. the collection of plant samples from the unclassified and Classified Forests adjacent to the Zahamena Protected Area (note: bioprospection is not allowed with Madagascar’s protected areas);
• to inventory, in collaboration with CI and CNARP, the higher plants of this site.

In November 1999, a Research Proposal covering ICBG-Madagascar's activities submitted jointly by CNARP, CI and MBG, was approved by the Malagasy government represented by CORE; and in December 1999 we conducted the first field trip of the Project. In 2003, the focus of ICBG activities in Madagascar shifted from Zahamena to the dry deciduous forest of north Madagascar.

Zahamena Site

The Zahamena Protected Area is located on Madagascar's east flank, approximately 175 km north east of Antananarivo. It includes the RNI de Zahamena and the PN de Zahamena—that together have an area of 64,400 ha. The relief is hilly and the altitude ranges from 244 m to 1582 m. The bioclimate of Zahamena is classified as humid to perhumid (Cornet 1974), that is to say that during the year plants will normally experience zero to one month of drought. The eastern side of Zahamena is considerably wetter than the western side, with an average of 2012 mm and 1110 mm of rain per year respectively Although there is precipitation throughout the year, the months November–March are considerably wetter than the rest of the year. The vegetation in and around the Reserve and includes both and low- and mid-elevation evergreen humid forest, secondary forest, plantations and secondary grassland.

The main problem completing field work efficiently is the inaccessibility of the Project Site, particularly its east side. Access to the west side of the Protected Area from the nearest navigable road takes 1 day, but a minimum of 3 days are required to reach the east side. Access to the east side is sometimes impossible during the wet season (January to March) because the numerous rivers that must be crossed are swollen and fast-flowing.

Porters (typically 12–15) are hired to transport camping materials, provisions and collecting equipment from the vehicle to the campsite and materials and collections back to the vehicle (see picture at right). Fieldwork teams are able to collect parts of the forest within a 5 km radius of the camp. At the start and end of all fieldtrips courtesy visits are made to the Head of the Village and to local CI representatives.

Collection of Plant Samples

Samples for bioassay are collected from fertile plants in the classified forests and unclassified forests adjacent to the Protected Area. One (1) kg wet weight of each plant part is collected, except for bark for which only 0.5 kg is collected. Typically a single woody species yields from 4–6 different samples (e.g. roots, wood, bark, twigs, leaves, flowers, fruit, seeds). Herbs and liana may yield just one or two plant parts.

Samples are collected either by hand (for leaves, flowers, and fruit), using secetars (twigs), or by machete (e.g. bark, wood). Each sample is placed in a cloth bag that is clearly labelled with a unique code. A voucher herbarium specimen with accompanying field notes is made in replicate of six from each species from which samples are collected. The field notes include most critically the location where the plant was collected (in terms of geographical co-ordinates and distance and direction from nearest location that is named on the on the map (e.g. village, river, summit). The code is related to the number of this herbarium specimen and thereby allows the species to be identified and relocated should biomedical assays using the parts of the species prove interesting. Normally, plant parts were dried in Antananarivo within 3 days from when they were collected however the minimum time required for specimens collected from the east side of Zahamena to reach Antananarivo was 4 days (and this was only attained by hiring porters to carry samples from the forest to a waiting vehicle that would drive non-stop through the night to the capital). During the period after the samples were collected and before they were dried, we attempted to keep the samples cool and dry to prevent decay. Samples are not collected from species which are considered rare at the site or species which are listed in the appendices of CITES.

Botanical inventory and the production of field guides

During the course of our fieldwork at Zahamena we inventoried around 930 species distributed in 128 families. We are valorizing this information in the form of two guides: Guide to the Woody Plants of Zahamena and Inventory of the Ferns of Zahamena (in French). These publications aim both to attract tourists and researchers to this site (and once there enhance their pleasure and facilitate their work) and also provide botanical information to reserve managers in an easy accessible form. The Guide to the Woody Plants of Zahamena is presented here as an incomplete draft; while the Inventory of the Ferns of Zahamena is a complete draft that will be published shortly, following final editing by a fern specialist.

Training and Capacity Building

During fieldwork we endeavor to encourage the exchange of knowledge between participants. In particular, when a plant is identified by one of the team they are encouraged to explain what were the identifying characters. In addition, tasks are rotated to ensure that all team members became proficient of all the activities. To date, 10 individuals have collected herbarium specimens as part of this program, several of whom had never made such collections previously.

Formal training in field botany was provided for two botanists from Conservation International during a field botany workshop organized in Antananarivo by MBG in September 2000. Capacity building has been provided for the herbarium at FOFIFA in the form of urgently required materials for camping and plant collection, and the costs of establishing and maintaining an e-mail capacity.

A workshop in ethnobotany, collections management, and botanical research methods was held in St. Louis from March 19 through April 13, 2001. Ten participants from Gabon, Madagascar, Tanzania, Vietnam, and Zambia attended. Leontine Rahelinirina (CNARP), sponsored by ICBG, was trained in horticultural techniques for management of the CNARP medicinal garden where she will prepare a series of educational labels for the included plants. Leontine also received additional training in tissue culture from both the Monsanto Company and the Donald Danforth Center for Plant Sciences.

The workshop included formal instruction on the following topics (instructors in parentheses): Bioprospecting (Heidi Schmidt), Methodology Agreements and Convention (Jim Miller), Corporate Aspect (Gary Eldridge), Collections Management Filing (Heidi Threnn), Insect Management (Roy Gereau), Specimen Mounting (Gigi Hill), Databases, TROPICOS, NAPIS, Access, Botanical Web Resources (Adam Bradley), Ethnobotanical Methodology/Ecological Sampling (Jan Salick), Expedition Planning and Botanical Exploration (Dan Harder), Field Collecting in Missouri (John Stone), GIS (Trish Consiglio), Botanical References (Jim Miller), Molecular Techniques (Wendy Applequist), Lab Visit (Simon Malcomber), Synoptic Revisions (George Schatz), Tree Climbing (Horticulture).