When was the last time you updated your travel bucket list? I’m sure a lot of our destination fantasies changed after being stuck indoors for two years. Luckily, many countries are welcoming back tourists after being shut down by the pandemic. One of these countries is a beautiful island with species found nowhere else in the world. Countless documentaries have been made about its unique wildlife and stunning landscapes, along with the struggles its people have faced for generations. What island am I referring to? Madagascar: the land of lemurs. Since few of us can book a last-minute flight and two-week tour across the island, today, I’m bringing you with me on a tour across Madagascar with a woman so passionate about lemurs, that I’m sure you’ll want to hop on a plane, and see the island just as badly as me.
To guide us across Madagascar, in this episode we are sitting with Lynne Venart, co-founder of the Lemur Conservation Network. Lynne’s story into this field is inspiring and quite winding. Trained in user experience and digital design, Lynne fell in love with lemurs after watching a documentary about sifakas and did everything she could to travel to Madagascar to see them for herself. After successfully visiting the island, she returned to the US with a newfound passion to raise the voices of the people dedicating their lives to protecting lemurs. After hours of research, she found the IUCN’s Primate Group Specialist’s recommendations for saving lemurs and realized that they didn’t have an online presence to spread their message. So, on a whim, she reached out to the group and asked if she could build that online presence, and BOOM, just like that, the Lemur Conservation Network was born. Now in 2022, LCN is a fully functioning nonprofit and an online network that fosters collaboration among conservation organizations in Madagascar while inspiring animal lovers to support the cause.
Lynne and I discuss everything lemurs, as well as their top threats and how to conserve them. We then go on a full tour across the island meeting the species and people she’s come to love.
Additionally, if you want a hardcore science episode all about lemurs with two amazing Malagasy lady scientists, head on over to the archives and check out Episode 51 after listening to today’s show.
Alright, friends. Please enjoy this very interesting tour across Madagascar with Lynne of the Lemur Conservation Network.