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World Lemur Festival (WLF) day was officially on 29 October, and on the following Sat-
urday Duke Lemur Center SAVA Conservation organized a first ever WLF celebration in
Andapa. As a motto, we chose " Lemurs are a great attraction for tourists which are an
important source of income and also a great flagship for forest protection and reforesta-
tion''. All the environmental organizations were present, such as WWF, MNP, WCS Ma-
kira and local NGOs like Toham-pontsy. We joined together in this event in an effort to
raise local awareness about the importance of the lemurs both for their contribution to
forest regeneration and their value as source of income for local people in terms of eco-
tourism, and the necessity of protecting them. We launched the message through Radio
and TV first, to invite all people, from authorities to students, to join us for the event. On
31 October 16 representatives of NGOs, Associations and schools paraded around Andapa
showing their support for lemurs by dancing and singing as the parade wound its way
along the crowded streets. There were about 900 people participating in the parade. The
authorities and some organization representatives spoke to emphasize the message be-
hind such an event. In the afternoon, we continued with different activities, all related in
some way to conservation, the environment, or lemurs. In the dance contest there were
18 participating groups. The poetry was about conservation and lemurs and was present-
ed by 10 different school children. 35 students participated in drawing the lemurs of their
choice. A Radio crochet (Question and Answer) was also another activity presented dur-
ing this event. Every participant received a gift, ranging form pens and copy books to t-
shirts.
The ambience was extremely positive and people are eager for next year’s celebration!
2015 World Lemur Festival Celebration
by Joxe Jaofeno
