Centre ValBio Helped Fight Madagascar Wildfire Threatening Ranomafana National Park
Donations collected to help support the firefighting efforts
A raging fire in Madagascar’s Ranomafana National Park recently threatened the home of rare species of lemurs and other wildlife, and Stony Brook University’s Centre ValBio helped battle the blaze alongside local residents, park rangers, gendarmes and the military.
Dry conditions and high winds created a tinderbox that affected more than 600 acres of the park. Patricia Wright, Herrnstein Professor of Conservation Biology, Distinguished Service Professor and the founder and executive director of the Centre ValBio Research Station, told the publication Mongabay that while Madagascar’s rainy season runs between November and April, it had not rained in December or January. “Everything in the rainforest is wilted and dry.”
More than 1,500 community members fought the fire on January 8, creating firebreaks and beating back the flames with shovels and branches. “To see the fire, and feel the frustration of having such a big fire in a place with no rivers, is sad,” Wright said in an email update to Centre ValBio supporters. “We have water pumps, but there are no rivers to supply the water for pumping.”
The fire advanced closer to the village of Vohiparara. Many animals, including chameleons, frogs and land snails, were burned by the flames, while lemurs have been observed fleeing the area.
It finally rained on Tuesday, January 14, and the fire was eventually put out. In a January 16 update, Wright noted, “Our dry season, which normally ends in November, extended into January. Images collected by drone confirm that 122 hectares of forest burned inside of Ranomafana National Park. This is the first time we have had a fire inside the park’s boundaries. It is a threat we will continue to face in the coming years if climate change isn’t taken seriously by world leaders and the public at large.”
Wright added that a Centre ValBio team consisting of 10 technicians set out to verify the main areas affected by the fire and collect data on the loss of vegetation, which will guide plans for restoring ecologically important rainforest habitat. “We are also making plans for constructing firebreaks and assessing precautions to be put in place for warding off future threats.”
Centre ValBio has collected donations to help feed the people fighting the fire and purchase fuel for vehicles and supplies. “We are grateful to all who have donated toward our efforts to fight this fire and assist the people in the villages it threatens,” Wright said.
Anyone who wants to help can make a donation online via the Stony Brook Foundation website. Contributions toward alleviating the devastation caused by the fire will be deposited to the CVB’s general Rainforest Conservation Fund. Please check the Tribute button and note: “RNP-2025FIRE” in the Honoree First Name line.