Bristol Zoological Society has teamed up with architecture firms Grant Associates and Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios to help save critically endangered wildlife on Madagascar.
Bristol Zoological Society (BZS) operates a field research centre and eco-tourist camp in the heart of Ankarafa Forest on the African island – home to the blue-eyed black lemur, pictured.
Landscape architect Grant Associates and Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios (FCBStudios) – both based in Bath – are helping BZS further develop the centre in the north-western part of Madagascar, one of the most biodiverse on earth and within an UNESCO biosphere reserve.
The team aims to help protect the forest from continuing deforestation, while helping to secure the future livelihood of its people and wildlife.
The project forms part of the 20th year anniversary celebrations at Grant Associates, which will invest significant funds and time to improve the basic field research facility and help develop a strategy for the future management of the forest.
Plans for the new research centre involve creating a permanent, weather-proof facility accommodating up to 20 local scientists and students and wider, international conservation research community. The complex will include a laboratory, office, sleeping, dining and living quarters, and a kitchen.
Proposals for the eco-tourist camp near the research station include expanding its present capacity to 20 guests, creating a classroom for workshops and talks and installing raised walkways to deal with mud in the rainy season.
The team has already surveyed the site and designs for the centre and camp complex are now being created in consultation with BZS, which manages the existing facilities in partnership with AEECL (Association Européenne pour l’Étude et la Conservation des Lémuriens) – a consortium of 30 European zoos working to safeguard Madagascar’s lemurs.
The hope is that the new facilities will attract a higher number of scientists, students and eco-tourists, creating employment opportunities and building the economic value of the forest.
Modern research facilities will better help scientists understand the challenges facing endangered species and how they can be helped.
Grant Associates and FCBStudios, supported by the Richard Feilden Foundation (RFF) – a small UK-based charity focused on using professional expertise to improve educational infrastructure in Africa – also aim to improve road access to Ankarafa Forest and virtual access, using media such as virtual reality videos to link the rest of the world to this fragile forest.
Grant Associates founder and director Andrew Grant said: “Madagascar is recognised as one of the most important, and most threatened, environments for global biodiversity and is at the forefront of projects aiming to minimise extinction of vulnerable species and has a remarkable landscape that must be protected.
“We have always based our approach on better connecting people and nature and wanted to mark our 20th anniversary with an international project that makes a significant contribution to global conservation and would capture the imagination of everyone who learned of it.
“The Ankarafa Forest project by BZS provides the perfect collaboration, not least because it marries the conservation of unique local wildlife with an improved economy for local people.
“Together with BZS, the AEECL and with the valued input of FCBStudios as architects, we believe the creation of an improved field station at the heart of the Ankarafa Forest, along with its associated eco-tourist project and the participation of local communities, will make a serious contribution to secure the future of wildlife and livelihood of villagers in the Sahamalaza Peninsula.
“We hope this venture will set an international example for creative conservation, innovative research, education and the regeneration of threatened habitats.”
RFF chair Peter Clegg, who is also senior partner at Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, added: “The RFF was set up in memory of architect Richard Feilden. His connections with East Africa inspired him to share his skills and enthusiasm in order to make the world a better place, and this is a fitting project for the foundation to contribute to.
“Architects from FCBStudios will be providing innovative architectural and building design expertise for the remote location in Ankarafa Forest, designing a series of simple buildings that will form the research camp for Bristol Zoo in northern Madagascar.”
