Get Involved

One of the biggest players in protecting this new and critically endangered species is SEED Madagascar; a non-profit organization that helps to collect information on the critically endangered Antanosy Day Gecko to inform as well as educate the world, Madagascar's neighboring communities, and tourists on the necessary conservation policies needed to prevent this gecko’s extinction. Their project to retrieve information on this newly discovered species of gecko took two years. The first phase of this research program began in January of 2014 and went until January 2015. During this first phase the scientists and photographers as well as a few educated volunteers: analyzed and surveyed the Antanosy Day Gecko’s regular daily and mating behavior, built relationships with other organizations wanting to help, involved the community through clubs and information sessions at schools, and trained eco-tourism guides that resided in a town neighboring the Gecko’s habitats. The second phase of this research initiative took place between January 2015 and December 2015. In this time they created a complete analysis and collection of data in published journals whilst also expanding their research locations. SEED Madagascar was also able to research the Antanosy Day Gecko’s population density to relocate some of the species to create a larger per acre habitat for the Antanosy Day Geckos. SEED furthered the spread of the awareness of this species in communities across Madagascar and in its government simultaneously with furthering its organization’s informational reach and creating more co-organization protection efforts.

SEED Madagascar worked in the Sainte Luce, Anosy, and southeastern regions of Madagascar. Not only did they further our knowledge about the Antanosy Day Gecko they recorded many of the island-dwelling species have been and will continue to go extinct due to deforestation and logging in the future. As part of their discoveries, SEED Madagascar found that “Less than 10,000 individuals are estimated to remain, and these remaining geckos are threatened by ongoing deforestation and proposed mining activities in the region,”(SEED Madagascar, 2021). In the Madagascan communities they ran education sessions and presentations in the neighboring community schools to teach and inform the locals on the level of endangered awareness needed to protect the geckos and that this gecko can’t be found anywhere else in the world whilst also helping to teach local tourist guides the importance of maintaining the species as well as monitoring and tackling the threats.

Image Source:

SEED Madagascar Community Development Internship Madagascar. (n.d.). Go Overseas. Retrieved January 18, 2022, from https://www.gooverseas.com/internships-abroad/madagascar/seed-madagascar/17679 (photo).