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In Time for Tortoises
By Julie Larsen Maher
In the dry, thorny forests of southwest Madagascar, 106 radiated tortoises destined for the dinner table got a second chance. The Mahafaly people of Tanindranto, a small village on Madagascar's southern coast, took action and stopped five poachers who illegally collected the tortoises from around the village for the bushmeat trade.
Southern Madagascar is isolated, remote, and the people are poor and living in the margin. The Wildlife Conservation Society works at the community level to encourage and educate local people to protect their landscape and wildlife. WCS community conservation initiatives aim to maintain the remaining tortoises and their habitat. Working at the village level puts the responsibility back in the hands of the people who share the land with the tortoises.
As staff photographer for WCS, headquartered at the Bronx Zoo, my primary focus is to photodocument our conservation efforts. Field conditions where our programs occur are rugged and extreme, and local customs and conditions are a constant challenge. I am accompanying our science staff to a series of meetings about protecting radiated tortoises that live in and around village lands. We bump along for hours on dry, dusty, and rut-filled roads that lead our team from village to village. Towering walls of prickly pear cactus surround us, the juicy fruit leaving magenta stains that look like open wounds along the sides of our car. Vibration reduction lenses are a must, as I shot landscapes through the car window.
Conservation meetings in the villages are sensitive, and respecting Malagasy culture and protocol is critical for success. Meetings are often held in common space or in a tent that also serves as the school, the town hall, the doctor's office, and the jail. There is no electricity or lights of any kind. I do not use a flash or attempt any setups-no tripod. I capture the actual event as it takes place-all photojournalism. I sit quietly on a 3-inch-wide board bench hoping I do not tip off as I wait for my introduction to the local authorities. The Nikon D2X digital SLR is masterful at capturing ambient light situations. I make incamera adjustments to accommodate for varying exposures, with sliding ISOs and compensations. I work at 800 ISO so movements are not blurry.
The meeting begins, and our researchers talk to the villagers about their role in protecting what is theirs. The audience ranges in age from one to 100. I try to pack as much information into each photo as possible -the light, the young, the old, and the WCS scientists. They have much to learn about what they need to protect. A radiated tortoise is at the door of the tent, its mouth all sticky and red, as if it has applied lipstick without a mirror. The prickly pear fruit again, a favorite food of the tortoise. I sit on the ground beside it, and take its picture as part of my story.
The radiated tortoise, Geochelone radiata, with a lifespan of 150 years, is endemic to southern Madagascar, where its population has been pushed to a threatened conservation status with less than 4.5 million left in the wild whereas 20 years ago, the estimated population was between 15 - 25 million tortoises.
Radiated tortoises, especially adults, are easily preyed on by poachers to sell for food. The tortoises suffer widespread habitat loss due to burning of the forests for charcoal production and land clearing for agriculture in Madagascar. Juvenile tortoises are also targeted for the pet trade. Photographing all aspects of conservation, good and bad, is important as it shows the devastating effects certain practices can have on the land and its inhabitants. I take photos of these situations as I see them, all too often, on our trip.
Listing on Appendix I of CITES and protection by the Malagasy law 60-126, which was adopted in 1960, are measures in place to help save the radiated tortoise. The WCS community-based awareness campaign for the conservation of tortoises was launched throughout the south in 2002. Due to the poor economic conditions of Madagascar, many of the laws and actions are largely ignored. For the 106 tortoises taken for bushmeat this time, the news is good. Upon discovery of the poachers and 106 tortoises, the Tanindranto villagers reported the incident to the local authorities, and the poachers were arrested. The tortoises were confiscated and left with the village.
Many tribes throughout the southwest regard the radiated tortoise as an important part of their culture, its protection often lying within a taboo or "fady" (a local belief). The Tandroy Mahafaly tribe believes it is fady to touch the tortoises as this conduct may bring bad luck to their people. Since touching the tortoises is taboo, and they were left half-buried and upside down for ten days while several Tanindranto men observed them on a daily basis. Conservation groups arrived to assist in the tortoises' release back to their habitat near the village. All 106 radiated tortoises survived. The tortoises travel the same roads as we do, and I stop often to photograph their commute.
Fifteen Tanindranto people who alerted authorities and broke with tradition by providing care for the tortoises received a one-time award and recognition for their efforts from WCS. Those villagers who touched the tortoises while releasing them back to nature had to be cleaned by a small traditional ceremony to preserve their social status.
When I go on location to photograph, I strive toward a whole body of work. Wildlife, landscapes, photos that depict the good and the bad, closeups, people at work, culture.
A tip for trips to remote destinations, TAKE LOTS OF FLASH CARDS, as power is random, if at all. I plan for one week minimum without power.
www.wcs.org
www.exploremadagascar.com
Julie Maher's Bio
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