Last summer I fulfilled one of my lifelong dreams - to travel to Madagascar and experience first hand the island’s special wildlife and habitats, which I have been obsessed with for my whole life! Getting involved in conservation projects is what I travelled to Madagascar for, but I left the country thinking more about the inspiring people I met, and new perspectives on sustainability the place gave me.
What did I do?
I have been planning to take this trip my whole life, ever since I became captivated by the lemurs at our local wildlife park which my Mum used to take me to regularly. Or was it thanks to watching countless nature documentaries? You know what, there’s every possibility it’s thanks to the ‘Madagascar’ animated film…! Regardless of the source of inspiration, I knew exactly what I wanted to do in Madagascar - experience the country’s very special environments and wildlife, and give back through contributing to conservation projects and delivering sustainability workshops.
Come 2024, I had found a way to make the trip happen. I met Chloe Lingard a few years ago, who had visited Madagascar many times in recent years as she established ‘TSAP Travel’ - a new kind of voluntourism company, focused on creating impact that is led by the local people of Madagascar, and harnesses both a network of Malagasy translators and the skillsets of visiting 'changemakers'. After a year of planning and saving, I set off in September 2025.
Nosy Be, a small island off the north coast of Madagascar, was my home for nearly five weeks - it was important for me that I spent a significant amount of time there, given I was flying half-way across the world and in doing so contributing to a significant amount of carbon being released; stay longer, fly less often is a core approach of mine. It was a big culture shock - Madagascar is the ninth poorest country in the world, and despite being home to an array of special wildlife found nowhere else on Earth (90% of it, in fact), the country has already lost more than 80% of its natural spaces (see 2023 research paper), so the area we were staying in was more urban than I had expected.
During week one, I explored beautiful nature reserves, got to know some local people, helped with English classes, and got to grips with some day-to-day norms - having no running water for several days at a time, batch filtering this so it was safe to drink, and learning just how long it takes to prepare and cook fresh food in the Global South...
In week two, I used my new connections to identify local needs, and plan what projects I wanted to deliver. The first, co-creating an English phrasebook for the guides at the local nature reserve to use to improve the quality of their speaking and the tours themselves. The second, deliver workshops to community groups that explored climate change, biodiversity loss, sustainability, and outlined some actions they could take that not only addressed these things, but most importantly saved them money and improved their health.
Week three consisted of getting ill (we all did!), recovering, and looking after my girlfriend (who suffered more than the others, bless her!), before helping other volunteers deliver a women's empowerment workshop, playing football with the locals, and creating a home-comfort meal from scratch - beans on toast, Malagasy-style!
During week four I finalised the draft of our English phrasebook, sharing this and other recommendations based on my experiences that could increase visitor numbers and income into the park as part of a workshop with the nature reserve’s Director and team of staff. With the help of the translators, I delivered six sustainability workshops to local people.
And for week five, Chloe organised an incredible trip to mainland Madagascar, to explore three additional nature reserves - we saw so many incredible critters, and met more wonderful guides! We shared information on our phrasebook, and took contact details to link-up Nosy Be’s nature reserve team with those of the mainland reserves, encouraging knowledge and skills sharing between sites. Then, before we knew it, it was time to spend quality time with my new lifelong friends, handover resources, and say goodbye.
What were the highlights?
- The inspiring levels of resourcefulness I saw amongst Malagasy people - every item had a second lease of life; plastic water bottles were being filled with freshly made tomato or mango purée, and sails on boats in the harbour were colourful combinations of old rags that were stitched together.
- Rest is completely normalised in the Malagasy culture - people work to earn what they need, and then they stop, they sleep, they eat, they spend time with family, which is wonderful.
- The deep awareness and connection to natural medicines - every plant out there had a medicinal use, or a cultural significance, which was very thought-provoking coming from a very synthetic medicine-based Western country.
If you are interested in learning more about what my trip to Madagascar taught me about sustainability, and what we can all learn from this country, I would love to tell you more - learn more about the talks I can offer you and your community on the Speaking page.
What can anyone take away from this?
Prior to this trip, I had not travelled outside of Europe, let alone to a third-world country - I was strangely looking forward to gaining newfound perspective and inspiration. Madagascar delivered that and more. I believe it is very important for us to travel to new places and experience new normalities, because this grows our awareness, critical thinking, and connection to people and places - all essential drivers in light of the sustainability challenges we face.
And to complement this, I believe it is important for us to recognise the privilege and responsibilities that come with international travel. Flying is one of the single greatest contributors to our individual carbon footprint, but if we fly less often and stay longer in a place, support locally-led businesses and volunteer in the community whilst there, and carbon offset our flight’s emissions, we can ensure the experience creates more positive influences than negative impacts.
If you are interested in experiencing marvellous Madagascar for yourself, find out more about volunteering with TSAP Travel on their website, and quote my name (‘Jake Causley’) for 20% off your package fee!
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Working Endorsements
He supported the delivery of training to a completely new audience with confidence, warmth and adaptability. He really helped make the event a success.
Paul Short-Hurst - Business, Skills & Innovation Project Officer for Falmouth University
Jake has a collegiate and supportive communication style that works well in several contexts, from student-facing work to stakeholder and strategic input. Whether a specific brief or leading on transformative change, he approaches tasks with both authority and collaboration.
Dr Russell Crawford - Pro Vice Chancellor: Academic Services for Falmouth University
The overwhelming eco-anxiety some of our students carry has been met with innovative and empowering positive change practice.
Nicola Salkeld - Senior Lecturer & Head of Year for BA Graphic Design at Falmouth University
