Jeannie Raharimampiona
Jeannie joined Missouri Botanical Gardens (MBG) Madagascar Program in 1999 with qualifications in teaching and plant taxonomy. She has worked on MBG’s electronic database, capturing information from specimens whilst working as a curator, and due to this she was asked to launch and co-manage a project to identify orphan Priority Areas for Plant Conservation (PAPC). She successfully integrated PAPCs into her governments vision to enlarge the network of protected areas and convinced conservation organizations to adopt some of these sites. Over the last 17 years she single-mindedly nurtured this program, this intervention helped to prevent extinction of some species. Jeannie’s next challenge is to transform the strongest site-based teams into effective Malagasy NGOs independent of MBG. Jeannie has contributed to nearly all the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation targets which include ensuring at least 15% of each ecological region or vegetation type is secured through effective management and/or restoration, ensuring 75% of the most important areas for plant diversity is protected and at least 75 % of known threatened plant species conserved in situ. Jeannie also helped to keep all wild harvested plant-based products sourced sustainably and keep the number of trained people working with appropriate facilities sufficient according to national needs to achieve the targets of this strategy. This large team is almost entirely supported by fundraising efforts.