Madagascar Bio-Conservatory Relief Project

The Madagascar Bio-Conservatory Relief Project will support efforts to preserve and relocate rare orchids in areas of the Madagascar jungle which are threatened by fires and deforestation, to preserve these rare gems of nature before the jungle is lost completely and provide hope for a next generation of reforestation and restoration efforts. Orchids are collected from areas that are threatened by brushfires, or from cut wood, and placed back into safer areas with live trees, and into private bio-conservatory greenhouse sites, in a ring around the forest, for breeding and eventual placement back into nature. This project also aims to help protect the lemurs, and all indigenous flora and fauna of Madagascar, as well as to provide a means for the people of Madagascar to connect with and interact with the forest in a positive way, as conservators. Our main goal is to the help save and restore the forest ecosystem of Madagascar and provide humans with a positive outlet to connect with this ecosystem without harming it.

2023 Update!

The first greenhouse is up and running! We don't own the land yet but the owners have graciously allowed usage for our first orchid hut and garden grow-space! Hundreds of orchids have been saved from fallen trees and brushfire areas and are now being restored to the the forest after being given the care they need to recover and survive in the wild. A new crop of terrestrials is growing in rows in the ground, and the walls are covered with hanging aerangis and bulbophyllum! We are also avidly collecting photographs for new species identification of both flora and fauna in the remaining forested areas, please join our MADAGASCAR ORCHIDS 2023 Facebook group for more regular updates.

We got Natiora her very first bank account in Antananarivo, allowing for an eventual land-lease and purchase of better cell-phones and equipment for the garden. Funds were used on tarps, wood, mounts, and staffing / land lease for the first year. We consider this a major SUCCESS! We thank all who have given funds to make this possible~

 

You Can Help Save the Rare Malagasi Flora And Fauna: Our main project leader and bio-conservationist is a woman named Razafiarisoa Onimiantsa, who goes by the common name "Natiora". Natiora lives near the forest on the East coast of Madagascar, and she has a passion for orchid conservation and breeding, our funds will help Natiora to buy land and startup ONE first greenhouse site, and pay salaries for Malagasi islanders to help, to save local species and to preserve and restore the forest. Funds will be distributed to Natiora by our US sponsor, Denver Hanging Gardens, an orchid flasking laboratory run by Ryan Molecke.

In the image above, we see project leader Natiora with a beautiful Angraecum orchid in bloom, and playing with a lemur. To the right we see a variety of lemurs, a local endangered animal. Natiora shared the image center-right of a lemur trap she recently removed from the forest.

Darwin and the Madagascar Angraecums: When Charles Darwin was sent a sample of Angreacum Sesquipedale flower from Madagascar in 1862, he and his colleague, Alfred Russel Wallace, saw the long spur on the back of the flower and theorized that there must be a moth with a 8-12 inch proboscis, which could pollinate this amazing and bizarre Angraecum orchid flower. It wasn't until 40 years later, after Darwin's death, that the first "Sphinx" moth with such a long nose was actually found, vindicating Darwin and his theory of evolution! These precious plants, among the rare giant orchids, helped humans understand nature and how we came to be within it, and the natural cycle and progression of life.

Less than 10% of the Forest is Left. The image above displays the map of fires in Madagascar just in 2021 alone, on the left, and the map of proposed sites for bio-conservatory orchid greenhouses that this project can fund, with the first location encircled, on the right. There are fires every year and this is part of the natural renewal process for a forrest, however, recent arson has damaged the "core" old-growth areas and now the forest is under existential threat, this entire ecosystem is in danger of dissappearing from the face of the Earth.

 

Expenditures List and Payout Schedule:

 

$13,540 : Land for Conservatory Location #1 (12,000 Euros)

Raised in first year: $939

This project will be conducted legally and in accordance with all international regulations and the local laws of the United States and Madagascar. We will work to connect with other existing bio-relief and conservation projects, and we will continue to post project updates!

 

Please consider donating $20, $50, or even $100+ to this campaign and continue to follow our project. We will be posting regular updates as we progress towards our funding goals, and as funds are dispersed and spent. Please join Facebook Group: "Magadascar Orchids 2023" for tons of pics and to join our social media community. Thank you!