TED Fellows

Plant a tree in Madagascar and see it grow on-line! - TH!NK ABOUT IT

July 20, 2010

Planet Action joins forces with the NGO Vakanala in its approach of reforestation and fighting against global warming in Madagascar. How? Through an annual provision of observation imagery and geographic information. This information will enable Vakanala to visualize the progress of their reforestation projects and to monitor the donors’ development efforts in a transparent way.
Planet Action is an initiative launched by Spot Image, a leader in the market for satellite imagery. Planet Actions goal is to encourage the Earth observation industry and geographic information professionals to support local projects searching for adaptive solutions to climate change problems. The products and materials available to these professionals – satellite images, geographic information systems, image processing and display software – are indispensable for studying the impact of global warming on our planet, on local and global scales.

Vakanala project called "Biosphere Reserve of Manambolo: Reforestation as a tools of rural development in Madagascar" is visible in the website of Planet Action . This page will be documented, illustrated and updated under the responsibility of our scientific coordinator Jérôme Lebeau, expert in conservation, monitoring, restoration of biodiversity and rural crowd sourcing. Jérôme is the man behind the http://fire.vakanala.org/ which provide a Google 3D spatial and temporal representation of fires that occurs In Madagascar and Comorros Islands. Fires are detected from two satelittes by NASA and University of Maryland, throught The Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS). Data are collected for Madagascar and dispatch by Conservation International Fire Altert Project.

To be expected on the Vakanala Planet Action page: The monitoring of plants for reforestation; monitoring of biodiversity through géophotographie and GPS field survey. All carried out directly by the rural communities.

The population in the village of Manambolo, the pilot site in Madagascar, is already surprisingly sensitive to the interest of forest conservation as an essential asset to their development. Anxious to preserve their "forest capital" and aware of the massive increase in traffic of illegal wood and slash and burn activity in the country, they have appealed to the NGO Vakanala for the establishment of a sustainable management of their resources.

The project that Vakanala team has proposed to the community is in line with the program "Man and Biosphere (MAB) of the UNESCO. This form of protected area has the objective to integrate both conservation of natural resources (and hence biodiversity), and sustainable development of local populations into one single process. Launched in the early 1970s, it targets the ecological, social and economic dimensions of biodiversity loss and the reduction of this loss. It uses its World Network of Biosphere Reserves as vehicles for knowledge-sharing, research and monitoring, education and training, and participatory decision-making.

Vakanala project is funded entirely with online donations and crowd funding. Until July 30 2010 (10 days left), the project is part of Global Giving Open Challenge to finance the reforestation of 3 fragments of forest in the south part of the Island by the establishment of a community plant nursery. These fragments, the last remnants of natural forests which covered the Island before our era, are of paramount importance : it is first real sanctuary for the unique biodiversity of Madagascar, which it is a last refuge, but it is also a natural resource vital to the survival of rural communities to which they provide many services, natural raw materials, natural storage of rainwater, soil fertility, fight against desertification, and many others.

We hope to have a permanent place in the Global Giving green open challenge.
The principle of Global Giving competition: you make an online donation and if the total donations received by Vakanala reached U.S. $ 4,000 from at least 50 donors, we will be able to submit several projects permanently on the Global Giving web site, and we will receive additional funding of U.S.$10 000.
Some of our projects that will need their place on Global Giving to implement a Biosphere Reserve in the village of Manambolo are:

ecological studies (endangered species, soil erosion)

the socio-economic studies (development of a specific economic model)

the intercommunication between the communities, the region and the Ministry of Environment to obtain a classification of this area as a 'Biosphere Reserve' protected Area,

the design of a plan for the sustainable management of the future protected area,

the establishment of long term funding mechanisms to continue the present and initiate future actions of Biodiversity Conservation and Rural Development.

Please Take part in this adventure of conservation of the unique biodiversity of Madagascar and create opportunities to increase resources revenue to the local community. A symbolic donation is within the reach of all. You can be sure that every penny that you donate is a penny that goes towards reforestation and tree planting projects. Off course for now we await the first rains (by september 2010)… If you give during the Global giving Competition, we will mark your tree on Google Earth and you will see it grow online. Donate by clicking this link http://goto.gg/5824 and pass the message to your friends.

Andriankoto Ratozamanana via development.thinkaboutit.eu

Related note on this blog: We plant trees for you and for our world - TH!NK ABOUT IT

Filed under // Andriankoto Environmental Concerns Environmental Justice Planet Action TED 2009 Fellow World Environment Action World Environment Organization climate Change reforestation vakan'ala

Posted by Andriankoto Ratozamanana

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We plant trees for you and for our world - TH!NK ABOUT IT

July 7, 2010

We are the first generation that has the knowledge and means to collaborate globally to solve poverty while ensuring respect for the environment and the dignity for the people. Web is the ideal tool to cooperate together and solve the crises that the world is facing today.

During eight weeks, supporters of NGO Vakanala have conffirmed the power of social networks and its effectiveness in the fight against climate change, proving the importance of individual action and how individual actions when multiplied can make a difference to the planet.

On behalf of the local community, my team (Vakanala) would like to thank all its fans for their support during the tournament "Humanity Calls". Indeed, the local community of Manambolo through the NGO Vakanala received 1,098 votes at the friendly competition for the environment sponsored by Ebay Green Team. Thank you very much!

This result gives us the 10th place out of 145 participating non profit and has raised U.S. $ 2,351.73 equivalent to more than 5 million Malagasy Ariary.

That was possible with the great support of my fellow TED fellow, Tin Ho Chow and his team at Big New Ideas who worked on the design of Humanity Calls, a social giving platform that helps raise funds for nonprofits through an online tournament.

As we are pioneering the system of "Fundraising/voting" competition in Madagascar, we are also thankful for the advise and personal donation from my fellow TED fellows Darius Weems and Logan Smalley. Logan took time to share with me his experience and tips from DGW ( Darius Goes West). Their experience on "fundraising 2.0" helped us so much.

Photo: TED Fellow Darius Weems and Me at TED 2009

Thanks to all of you, more than 1,800 trees will be planted in the south part of Madagascar, for a total target of 10,000 trees for the year 2010. The use of these funds will be communicated transparently on Vakanala website. The first trees will be planted arround September, when the first rain drops.

Today I am thrilled to announce that Vakanala have been chosen to participate in the GlobalGiving Green Open Challenge for July 2010.

Between July 5 to July 30, 2010, Vakanala will be working to raise a minimum of $4,000 from at least 50 donors to fund a plant nursery, which will guarantees the sustainability of our reforestation project in Manambolo. Check out our project design: http://goto.gg/5824

This amount will ensure a permanent spot on GlobalGiving’s website, which would allow us the opportunity to grow greatly and expand as an organization.

With all the economic sanctions that our country "Madagascar" is facing, especially from European Union, from African union and from US , plus the economic recession, we have planned to succeed our project with "crowd funding" approaches and mobilize resources outside institutions. We have also worked on the scales and will work from small but sustainable developement project at the time.

How Can you help ?

We know that you can introduce us to a program or people that helps/ fund startup organisations or simply donate to us via our Global Giving web page.Your help is very much needed ... and will be appraeciated greatly. In addition the project that gets most support or from the most donors will win up to $ 10 000, so every donation counts! And I am counting on you all!

What is GlobalGiving?

The website Global Giving allows philanthropists to establish a direct contact with organizations in developing countries to effectively participate in their activities either through donations and / or expertise.

GlobalGiving is an organization that helps organizations like Vakanala to mobilize supports for their work in communities worldwide by offering a Web page and online tools to help them raise funds online.

About NGO VAKANALA

"Vakanala" means " Pearls of Forest" in Malagasy language.

Vakanala, is a nonprofit organization based in Antananarivo that has set a goal to preserve the many little fragments of primary forests of Madagascar with sustainable reforestation.

These fragments, the last remnants of natural forests which covered the Island before our era, are of paramount importance : it is first real sanctuary for the unique biodiversity of Madagascar, which is it last refuge, but it is also a natural resource vital to the survival of rural communities to which they provide many services, natural raw materials, natural storage of rainwater, soil fertility, fight against desertification, and many others.

Follow Vakanala on twitter @vakanala, join Vakanala Facebook Group or contact us by email. Thank you all for your continued support.

via development.thinkaboutit.eu

Filed under // Andriankoto Environmental Concerns Environmental Justice Humanitycalls Madagascar TED 2009 Fellow World Environment Action World Environment Organization crowdfunding environment think3 vakan'ala

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The power of one vote can change Madagascar into a bread basket and medicine cabinet to the world - TH!NK ABOUT IT

May 10, 2010

I love my home country Madagascar more than any other place in earth. It is the fourth-largest island in the world, and is home to 5% of the world’s plant and animal species, of which more than 80% of which are found nowhere else on Earth.

Every year in this Island country, two hundred acre of forest is lost because of slash-and-burn agriculture, logging, and the production of fuelwood and charcoal for cooking fires… and the damage on the environment is irreparable.

Vakan'ala, a non-profit organization based in Madagascar take actions using ICT tools and social media to raise awareness on this issue. The organisation is part of an amazing tournament, the first online social giving tournament to support an environmental cause sponsored by ebay and named ebay tournament for the environement.

After reading this note, in few clicks you can help grow trees in Madagascar and make difference. Individuals like you and me - via Himanitycall.org - have the possibility to drive-up the tournament cash pool through contributions, vote and help engage others through your Facebook and Twitter page and help the only malagasy organisation at the tournament to win.

There is a Controversial list about the importance of casting a vote. I simply believe on today amazing possibility for a solitary vote from every one of us to change the world and improve lives of millions people in Madagascar by simply planting trees.

The UNEP (UNEP) in partnership with Treehugger ask bloggers to write a blog post about"'The importance of individual action to celebrate World Environment Day, and how individual actions when multiplied can make a difference to the planet" Please vote for Vakan'Ala in the eBay Tournament for the Environment, share this link --> http://bit.ly/cNFYnU #HumanityCalls, because that is something every one of us can do.

This year 2010, International year of Biodiversity, the online community from around the world can join force and help Vakan’ala to preserve the remaining fragment of primary forest in Madagascar and what they contain. Vakan'Ala can restore missing forest and endemic tree species while taking into consideration the needs of Malagasy rural people leaving near primary forest with less than 1 dollar a day.

It's sounds like a dream but you have the power to make it real if you give your vote to Vakan'ala

Malagasy blogger Andriankoto Ratozamanana decided he needed to do more than type to improve the standard of living and reforest in Madagascar. He is part of http://www.vakanala.org team, an NGO which contributes to harnessing natural resources of the planet and ameliorating exploited habitats.

via development.thinkaboutit.eu

Filed under // Andriankoto Environmental Concerns Madagascar TED 2009 Fellow World Environment Action World Environment Organization vakan'ala

Posted by Andriankoto Ratozamanana

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It's Christmas, offer a tree to our Planet

December 15, 2009

Media_httpfarm3staticflickrcom21232314785962ea4655eab1jpg_cgofppxxlcvivjq

via flickr.com

It’s been almost a year since Madagascar was turned upside down by political turmoil. Please, forget the kids' movies with crazy penguins and lions for a minute, the situation is particularly worrying in here.

Presently Madagascar is sitting without any legitimate government and on the verge of anargie !!! This is the Africa that we are trying to change.Criminal politicians and Criminal gangs are stripping our poorly-protected country and it's peoples.

According to a Mail & Guardian Online report, 'Timber traders in Madagascar have effectively bought the right to pillage the country's protected forest area with impunity. They are extracting up to $800 000 a day worth of timber,' said Reiner Tegtmeyer of Global Witness. Some reports announce a figure of $460 000 a day.

In the other side, farmers reaction is immediate: loggin but also Slash and burn agriculture ...

To get an idea of the phenomenon, my friends and I developed a system based on Google Earth 3D map plug-in, which lets you see the fire overnight. Fires are detected by NASA satellite, so it's fairly accurate.

What we can do is to replant the trees and restart again and again ... with more attention on the human need (reforestation for food, reforestation for energy ...)

I want to share a small organisation that we have started named VAKANALA (NPO). Vakanala aim to act for nature and contribute on the reforestation and the conservation of the planet .

Earth's Christmas is one of the vakanala project.

Earth's Christmas

The idea is simple: When you buy your Christmas tree, please consider Madagascar. with a small contribution of $1, we plant a tree for you and you are offering a tree to the world.

May be a "classic idea" for you but IMPORTANT for the planet.

The tree (for this project) will be planted in the south-west Madagascar; to restore the cleared space between forest fragments of virgin forest still exists.

Halting forest degradation and forest restoration are on the agenda in Copenhagen. We also need to protect our intact ecosystems, which is by far the least expensive of all the solutions for climate change.

Bellow is the design of the project (fr)

Our ultimate goal is to preserve the most valuable ecosystem in the world and what they contain, restore missing forest tree species endemic to the region, and also restore ecologically (through the trees that produce organic fertilizer ) specific areas included in the future complex forest for agriculture.

We have created earthschristmas.org to receive the beautiful gift you will give to our planet. Please also look at our Earth's Christmas Facebook Application to Get trees planted in honors of your Facebook friends. On this application, a Google Maps can show you where the trees will be planted and we will us this technology to monitor your gift as the trees grow.

We have a few hands and we can plant trees for all "flying" TED conferences Attendees and all Technology Entertainment and Design lovers who mind their CO2 footprint.

Contact us through our email: contact@vakanala.org

Visit our web sites (fr) www.vakanala.org | www.earthschristmas.org | http://apps.facebook.com/earthschristmas/ |www.fire.vakanala.org

Follow us on twitter at http://twitter.com/vakanala

We wish you Merry Christmas and Happy New Year :)

Photo courtesy: TED 2009 Fellow Andriankoto Ratozamanana - Reforestation Activist | anti-deforestation crusader | Madagascar

Filed under // Africa Andriankoto Madagascar TED 2009 Fellow cop15 environment green reforesation

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TED Fellow Andriankoto : Challenges of using technology to cover the Gabon elections | CPJ.org

October 3, 2009

Mobile phone add in Libreville _ featuring the Singer Magic System

Gabon’s bloggers struggle to take hold

By Andriankoto Harinjaka Ratozamanana

It’s been a couple of weeks since I left Gabon, and a month since elections to pick a successor to Omar Bongo, who ruled Africa’s fourth-largest oil producer for 41 years. There are unresolved questions about the ballot count and the number of people killed in post-election violence.

Riot police confront journalists in Libreville during an August opposition protest. (Andriankoto Ratozamanana)

Until this summer, I did not know much about Gabon, except for a random tidbit—that the nation of 1.4 million had a GDP matching Portugal. Things changed after July 3 when Lova Rakotomalala and I, both bloggers from Madagascar, received an e-mail from Alice Backer, a former French editor of Global Voices Lingua, about covering Gabon’s presidential elections scheduled for August 30.

I accepted because I need fresh air. After all, as a citizen blogger of Global Voices teny Malagasy, I had already experienced covering the bitter political crisis tearing apart my Indian Ocean island of Madagascar. With crisis reporting platform Foko-ushahidi, which allowed ordinary citizens to send testimonies via SMS, real-time reporting on Twitter, and local Web sites such as Topmada, Lova, myself and other citizen journalists helped cover all sides of the unfolding crisis. Citizen media reports were even quoted by international media as the Malagasy media was divided into partisan political positions.

Gabon, on the other hand, is not known as a “wired” country in tech speak. Less than 6 percent of the population has access to the Internet, according to InternetWorldStats. While intense public outcry opposed our former president’s closure of rival’s TV station and eventually led to his toppling from power, government censorship of media appeared to be the accepted norm in Gabon for many years, according to press freedom organizations.

Nevertheless, as I left the winter-season cool temperatures of Madagascar for the hot and humid air of Gabon’s seaside capital of Libreville, just above the Equator, I knew the elections would be historic, if not for the unprecedented role of new media technologies.

Twenty-three candidates were contesting the elections, many with appealing campaign Web sites such as Ali9, Mamboundou, AndreMbaObame or Moubamba. Candidates were also aggressively campaigning on social networking sites. One of the candidates for instance, Franco-Gabonese journalist Bruno Ben Moumbamba, was among the most active on Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and Twitter. Ali Ben Bongo, the ruling party candidate, even distinguished his campaign by sending on two separate occasions a personal SMS message to the customers of Gabon’s three main mobile carriers, Zain, Libertis, and Moov.

In the many bars (commonly called “makis”) of downtown Libreville’s Louis district, people discussed everything around the local beer “Regab” and braised fish dishes. With Bongo’s monopoly of state media, most local radio stations oriented toward religious and entertainment programming, and a handful of partisan TV stations controlled by the elite in politics, business, and the clergy, most Gabonese turned to international media for objective news. Unfortunately, the print and broadcast media’s coverage of the elections was limited by censorship, intimidation, and violence against reporters.

When I arrived in Libreville, I quickly detected that people were reluctant to freely express their views in public to someone they do not know. Even the barber I went to for a haircut politely declined to share his views on the elections, when I put the question to him as the TV in his salon was blaring Africa 24’s coverage of the polls. Bizarre.

At first, many young people I met did not seem very interested in the Internet. In fact, the most educated told me they used the Web exclusively to check e-mail and visit chat or dating sites. Others appeared motivated by the idea of blogging, but wanted to be paid to do it. Nevertheless, with help, a few people took their first steps in using the Web as social media, and a handful of new citizen voices slowly emerged. Journalist and activist Gaston Asséko shared his experience on voting day on YouTube. Roger Edima Mavoungou Wilson, a communications professional, started a blog and is actively tweeting. Régis Ngoma, a local comedian, even started a YouTube channel with videos satirizing the elections.

Regardless, there were many difficulties in my reporting. I remember being unable to text after the mobile companies suspended SMS service during the elections. As a result, a crisis reporting platform deployed by a Gabonese diaspora movement based in France called The Guardian Angels of Gabon on Ushahidi never took off. Nevertheless, social media facilitated the flow of information between the Gabonese diaspora and those living home. “#Gabon” even jumped to the top tag on francophone Twitter following the announcement of elections results, according to Twirus.

Doubts persist over the results of the presidential elections and with a recount of the votes in progress, journalists are still under pressure. Just last weekend, local caricaturist and blogger Patrick Essono was detained for drawing a cartoon of two policemen. A day before, the editor of state daily L’Union, Albert Yangari, was detained for questioning after publishing interviews with residents of Port-Gentil that suggested more people had been killed in post-election violence than reported by the government. This week, there were reports that the house of Jonas Moulenda, the journalist who carried out the interviews, was searched by security agents, and that he has received death threats.

Andriankoto Harinajaka Ratozamanana, is TED 2009 Fellow

he is co-founder of the Foko Blog Club, which trains Malagasy citizens in citizen journalism. He blogs on Posterous.

via cpj.org

There is always something new out of Africa - Pliny the Elder (A.D.23-79)

Filed under // Africa Andriankoto Madagascar TED TED Fellow activism gabon technology

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TED fellow hosted by Majora Carter @ ECO HEROES - Sundance Channel - Digital short

June 3, 2009

Former blogger Andriankoto Ratozamanana decided he needed to do more than type to improve the standard of living and reforest in Madagascar. He cofounded MEGASEEDS Inc, which contributes to harnessing natural resources of the planet and ameliorating exploited habitats.

Free | www.sundancechannel.com">Sundance Channel Length : 01:33 Posted : 5/1/2009

Majora Carter is the host of Sundance Channel’s Eco-Heroes, she is an American environmental advocate and artist. She is president of The Majora Carter Group, LLC, a green collar economic consulting firm. She is a MacArthur "Genius" Fellow, one of Newsweek’s “25 To Watch,” and one of Essence Magazine’s “25 most Influential African Americans.” Majora serves on the boards of Ceres, SJF, and the Wilderness Society.

Majora Carter is also as good as Steve Jobs when she speaks. She gave this compelling talk at the TED 2006 Conference, aptly titled “Majora’s tale of urban renewal” - by greening the ghetto, one of my favorite TEDtalk. She detailed her fight for environmental justice in the South Bronx - and showed how minority neighborhood suffer most from flawed urban policy.

Since 2007 Majora Carter has appeared on The Green, a television segment dedicated to the environment, shown on the Sundance Channel.The first season consisted of a series of 90 second op-eds shot in studio. The second season consisted of a series of short interview pieces with people who are taking uncommon approaches to environmental problems.

I had chance to appear on Majora's TV show as guest . She is loads of inspiration for me to reach out and teach others about the value of our unique Environment.

I still have a long way to go before I can attain my dream but I am already thankful to TED for enlighten me and connecting me with wonderful people.

Learn more about Marjora Carter at TED.com
Learn more about TED fellow Andriankoto Ratozamanana at TED.com
Learn more about MEGASEEDS
Megaseeds blog: http://blog.megaseeds.net/
Follow megaseeds on twitter : http://twitter.com/megaseeds
Fighting slash and burn in Madagascar: African bloggers take action on TED Blog

Filed under // Agribusiness Andriankoto EcoHero Sundance Channel Environmental Concerns Environmental Justice Madagascar Majora carter Ratozamanana TED 2009 Long Beach TED Fellow Tedtalk environment megaseeds ted2009

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TEDx Antananarivo :"Creating value from eco-business models."

April 10, 2009

MEGASEEDS™ seeks to be one of the leaders in social enterprise in Madagascar. Composed by young Malagasy social entrepreneurs, MEGASEEDS™ wants to expand its new vision, based on how we have a unique way of adding value to our products. With MEGASEEDS™, we wish to develop a new agribusiness model that benefits all parties because it is aimed to be lucrative, sustainable and environmentally friendly.

One TEDx with Two TED fellows:

Our guest speaker For this first TEDx in Madagascar was Dr. Sheila Ochugboju. Dr. Sheila is a TED fellow like Andriankoto Ratozamanana, Co-founder and CEO of MEGASEEDS Inc. Both are passionate about changing Africa. She will be working soon for the African Technology and Policy Studies (ATPS) network and will coordinate research and communication in science and technology innovations across 23 countries. Her wish is that Madagascar through MEGASEEDS™ joins the network of ATPS as the first private sector business to open the 24th national chapter in Africa.

Her experience at the GWIIN helped identifying innovative ways of getting ideas to market.

Two films was projected as part of the event.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED - like experience.

At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers
combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x=independently organized TED event.
The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events including this event, is self-organized.

via ted.com/tedx

Filed under // Agribusiness Andriankoto Antananarivo Madagascar Megaseeds Pictures Sheila TED TED Fellows TEDx ted2009

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The Story of a Scent : Africa’s Babies...

April 5, 2009

From TEDAfrica (2007) to TED Long Beach (2009)
Two TED Fellows in Madagascar

>>> Getting the Dream to Market...

Andriankoto @ sheila

Madagascar has a robust and expanding domestic market and a modest share of the global market for aromatic and medicinal plants AMP. The domestic market is on a growth trend because of combined government and civil society efforts to mainstream traditional and herbal medicine.

With exports of $4 million, Madagascar is not among the top ten exporting nations, but it follows very closely. However, these exports are not insignificant at the national level.

Moreover, the global market is expanding by an estimated 10-15 percent per year, and Madagascar has potential competitive advantage for some specific (e.g., endemic, scarce) plant products.

Global markets in the aromatic, cosmetic and health care sectors demand steady supplies of new and innovative scents and medicinal products.
The perfume industry continually searches for “new” scents that can be introduced as new seasonal lines. Increasingly, these products must also be certified organic, fair trade or sustainably produced.

Madagascar presently exports five key products in this area. Three are relatively scarce essential oils: ylang ylang, niaouli, and ravintsara.

The other two are spices: cinnamon (some bark is also distilled into essential oil) and clove (used
mostly in Indonesia in cigarettes). The potential for growth lies in organic aromatic essential oils—not only ylang
ylang, niaouli, ravintsara and cinnamon, but also from new, endemic or “exotic” plants.

THE DREAM OF PARFUM TED CAN ONLY HAPPEN IF WE CONTINUE TO DREAM TOGETHER...

Filed under // Africa Agribusiness Andriankoto Madagascar Megaseeds Perfume TED Sheila TED TED Fellows reforestation ted2009

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The Story of a Scent : TED 2009 ends The Journey to Madagascar begins...

April 5, 2009

Thursday Night, 5th Feb – Pine Avenue TED Block Party 8: 38pm

Sitting at the table for dinner at the Block Party, Adriankoto could hardly eat, he was really nervous, change is comming in his home country Madagascar, a big presentation to partners at Megaseeds his Japanese TEDsters friends.

Sheila’s thinking about the book at bedtime, a gift from Adriankoto “A Guide to The Health Benefits of the Essential Oils of Madagascar: The Healing Trail: Essential oils of Madagascar” by Georges Halpern, MD, Ph.D, a Professor of University of California at Davis.

So many omens.......science, Japanese (she speaks Japanese) and Africa...what is the Universe saying?....

Some Facts

Lumur park

•    Madagascar is one of the world’s poorest countries economically and one of its richest in biodiversity.
•    Madagascar is the world’s fourth largest island, covering an area of 592,000 km2.
•    It contains at least 13,000 plant species, of which more than 80 percent are endemic and 3,500 are reported to have medicinal properties.

• With a per capita GDP of U.S. $809, Madagascar ranks 146 of 177 countries on the Human Development Index.
• Seventy-four percent of its population lives in rural areas, and 78 percent of the rural population lives in poverty.

•   Agriculture accounts for the largest share of GDP (35 percent); economic growth has accelerated over past four years (5.2 percent in 2004), as the government shifted from socialist to private sector- led growth policies.
•    Political strife associated with this transition set back the country, as key road infrastructure was destroyed.
•    Madagascar’s rural economy is based upon subsistence-oriented agriculture. Much of this agriculture is slash-and-burn (tavy), which has been a principal cause of forest cover and biodiversity loss.
•    The challenges of improving standards of living among the rural poor and conserving biodiversity are interlinked in Madagascar, and a key issue is how to increase rural incomes and reduce the need for tavy.
•    This proposed enterprise will highlight the interlinked challenges of biodiversity conservation and rural poverty reduction by promoting alternatives to tavy along two of the country’s forest corridors: Zahamena-Mantadia and Ranamofana-Andringitra- Ivohibe.

dream

Filed under // Africa Agribusiness Andriankoto Madagascar Megaseeds Perfume TED Sheila TED TED Fellows TEDmoments reforestation

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The Story of a Scent : MEGASEEDS and the Creation of Parfum TED

April 5, 2009

Thursday, Feb 5th – Long Beach

via flickr.com

2:15pm. Overheard at TED. The Renaissance Hotel

....So Adriankoto says to Sheila......”How was your table?” They were talking about the wierd kind of match-making at the TED Fellows Debut lunch.

Sheila: “Umm.....I sat next to a cool software guy and we talked about social networking sites etc, etc.....” her voice trailed off.

Adriankoto: “No one spoke to me actually.......in fact, our table was........mostly us.....”

Both: “Umm...”

Sheila: You know I want to come to Madagascar and help you with your project. I miss working as a plant scientist...I miss the concentration.......doing really hard heady stuff....”

Adriankoto: You should come then....we could do some great work....

Sheila: Yes....I love plants.....Ylang, Ylang.....

Adriankoto: Yeah...You know that’s what they use for Chanel No.5 ? There’s an island in Madagascar which smell Chanel No.5

Sheila: For real?.......... We should create our own perfume you know.....Essence of Madagascar......something like.....being a TEDster.....wierd?

Adrian: Ummm.....Parfum TED.....WOW! Let’s do it. Someone like Forrest Whittaker....he’s the essence of a TEDster....

Sheila: Absolutely! Cool, kind, clever.......just a little sexy too.

Adrian: Did you see the film Perfume?

Sheila: Yeah....but that story was just gross....we’re living on the light side my Malagasy Brother

Filed under // Africa Agribusiness Andriankoto Madagascar Megaseeds Perfume TED Sheila TED TED Fellows TEDmoments ted2009

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Gabon’s bloggers struggle to take hold