Conservation Partners in the Field 

A recent visit to Madagascar gave conservation partners a firsthand look at how the Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA) and Wildlife Madagascar connect wildlife protection with education and local livelihoods. The delegation included TSA President and CEO Dr. Marc Dupuis-Desormeaux, Little Rock Zoo Director Susan Altrui, and Dr. Kathayoon Khalil, Senior Vice President of Wildlife Conservation, Education, and Sustainability at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium.

The group began at TSA’s Antananarivo office, the hub for its island-wide tortoise rescue, rehabilitation, and conservation efforts. At Mandrare River Camp in southern Madagascar, Wildlife Madagascar’s field team shared its work with neighboring communities on reforestation, education, and outreach.

The next stop was TSA’s new Community Outreach Center, which the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium helped fund. The center gives TSA more room to work with local communities and expand conservation education and community development alongside its efforts to protect tortoises. The visit highlighted the breadth of the center’s programs—from jam and soap making to black soldier fly rearing—and TSA’s wider work in southern Madagascar, including research, breeding, and protection for Critically Endangered radiated tortoises, as well as efforts to safeguard its rare habitat at Cap Sainte Marie Special Reserve.

At La Mananara, the final stop, Wildlife Madagascar staff showed how several programs operate side by side at one field site. The native tree nursery supplies seedlings for forest restoration, the young coffee plantation is a pilot program for local livelihoods, and staff shared their work on green charcoal and wildlife research.