Doctor Richard Lawler gave a lecture on the history of Beza Mahafaly Special Reserve, Beza for short. The conservation efforts began in 1975 by the University of Tana, Yale, and Washington University. The conservation efforts gained the title of. Special reserve by the government of Madagascar in 1986. Beza is currently jointly run by the University of Tana, Madagascar National Parks and local stakeholders from around the reserve. The reserve is split up into 2 parcels: parcel 1 is 80 hectors and parcel 2 is 520 hectors. The fauna of these parcels is split into 3 distinct
The majority of the local population is Mahafaly, while the second largest group is Antandroy. The Mahafaly people have many fadi (taboo) regarding the forest, which help conserve all of the living things within it. They have a local legend regarding the protection and creation of the sifaka and ring tailed lemurs. The story begins with a man who had 2 wives. He gave his first wife a tortoise and did not give his second wife anything. The second wife became jealous, so she smacked the other wife in the head so hard that she became a ring tailed lemur. The second wife then retaliated, hit the other wife, and the other wife became a sifaka. So, the legend has it that the lemurs in Beza must be protected because they were previous wives.
By Nick Kane
