Meet the Monitoring Team

Elahavelo was born and raised in the village of Analafaly, 04 km from the Reserve. He completed the 8th grade in school.  Elahavelo’s encyclopedic knowledge of and interest in plants made him an obvious member of the Monitoring Team from the outset, and a clear choice to lead the plant monitoring effort.  Since 1995, Elahavelo has steadily expanded our knowledge of plant diversity in the Bezà Mahafaly Special Reserve and monitored cycles of leaf, flower and fruit production. He has also been the driving force behind the creation of the Museum’s herbarium and botanical garden.

Enafa was born and raised in Analafaly. Today he lives in Mahazoarivo, a village located at 2 km north of the Reserve. He has no formal schooling but has learned to read and write since joining the Monitoring Team in 1995.  Enafa leads the lemur monitoring and censusing program, and he is also an expert with the blow gun.  He is responsible for all the darting in the capture/release program for the two diurnal lemur populations.  His prowess is well known throughout Madagascar, and he has traveled widely, helping other research teams.

Efitiria was born in Mahazoarivo. He is well respected by villagers in Mahazoarivo as he used to be the Head of the Fokontany of the Mahazoarivo village, although he has not had any formal school education. He is responsible for monitoring reptiles and birds in the Reserve.  Efitiria easily recognizes and imitates bird calls and easily gets bird responses to his calls.

Edouard has a baccalaureate degree, and is in charge of updating and maintaining the database on the ground.  He is from Betioky, but his wife comes from the area.  He is leading the socio-economic surveys and has established very close relationships with village leaders surrounding Bezà Mahafaly.

Anthonio Tovolahy is the Head of the ESSA Research Center at Bezà Mahafaly, and the leader of the monitoring team.  He has a DEA (Diplôme d’Etudes Approfondies) degree in Biodiversity and Environment from the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Toliara, with an expertise in Animal biology and natural resources management. He has also a Bachelor degree in Fisheries and aquaculture production from the Marine Science Institute (IHSM) of the University of Toliara. Anthonio has had extensive knowledge and experience in socio economic and biodiversity monitoring with the local communities as well as community-based conservation in the southern part of Madagascar