Herizo Andrianandrasana explains how the wetlands of Madagascar, which contain many rare and unusual animals, such as the Gentle Lemur, are being dried out by climate change and therefore becoming more susceptible to fires and invasive species, such as the Water Hyacinth.

Madagascar is an island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa. The main island, also called Madagascar, is the fourth-largest island in the world, and is home to 5% of the world's plant and animal species, of which more than 80% are endemic to Madagascar. They include the lemur infraorder of primates, the carnivorous fossa, three bird families and six baobab species. Two thirds of the population live below the international poverty line of US$1.25 a day.

Herizo Andrianandrasana is a forest Engineer from Madagascar who has worked for the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust for the last 8 years. He is responsible for overseeing all of the DWCT's ecological monitoring activities in Madagascar and has helped to develop appropriate management plans for many sites of conservation importance.

Herizo is particularly interested in studying the habitat of the gentle lemur (Hapalemur alaotrensis) which is locally endemic to the Alaotra wetlands and critically endangered.  Despite considerable environmental education efforts to influence the local people, Hapalemur alaotrensis is seriously threatened by the annual burning of the marshes, overfishing and poaching.

Herizo is currently attending a training course at Oxford University's Wildlife Conservation Research Unit which has been sponsored by the Panthera Foundation.