Read the latest post from our blogger Joely Harris about the importance on education in reducing inequalities.
This summer I joined four staff and twenty five children in a three week expedition in Madagascar. We were blessed with hugely knowledgeable guides, including the self proclaimed “bird nerd” who had mastered over 100 bird calls and was David Attenborough’s very own guide. Theo the “bird nerd” had once been part of a naked tribe that had lived in the national park before it gained its status as such. He educated us on the traditions of the Madagascan tribes and their need for the wood that exists inside the National Park. Deforestation is a humungous issue in Madagascar with one half of its forests disappearing between 1950 to 1985 leaving a meagre 11% of rainforest left today. Theo’s overarching argument as to how to fix this was, (you might have guessed it) education! Due to being taught how to guide in the national park he could provide for his family without resorting to cutting down wood from the forests. His cousin and nephew are also guides in the forest.
