Lake Sofia

Emergency Appeal

Lake Sofia in Madagascar is on the brink of collapse.

An urgent appeal

Following catastrophic water loss from storm damage earlier this year, this home and haven for local people and endangered wildlife has become little more than a pond, surrounded by treacherous boggy land.

Without urgent action Lake Sofia will suffer total ecological collapse, impacting 10,000 people who rely on it and threatening critically endangered wildlife found only there.

There is a solution

Plans have been drawn up by the local community - in partnership with WWT Madagascar Team and Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust - for the construction of a dam near where the original breach occurred.

But with the rainy season starting in November, we have a matter of weeks to raise the initial £50,000 needed to begin work on this crucial project.

The dam itself will be entirely community owned, and provides a low-tech, long-term solution that will be able to protect this vital lake for years to come.

Water levels used to reach up to the pontoon where Felix is standing.

How your donation will make a difference

Construct a community-owned dam to secure Lake Sofia’s future.

Safeguard endangered species that call the lake home.

Ensure a sustainable environment for generations to come.

Follow our progress so far

Latest updates:

19 December Construction of the dam has begun! The fundraising target has been reached again. A massive 'thank you' to everyone for your support and generous donations. We will keep you posted on the progress of the construction in the new year.

14 November Groundworks have begun on site to build the dam. The final design is larger and stronger than initially expected, providing greater protection to the lake. This has significantly increased costs of delivery to £110,000.

5 November Huge thanks to everyone who has donated. We have exceeded our initial target of £50,000!

30 October Materials being procured and engines transported into the site.

21 October Ground-breaking blessing ceremony held.

18 October Ground clearance work has begun on site.

7 October Thanks so much to Nick Sherwin for his fantastic support of this project.

4 October Following the tender process, a design for the dam has now been confirmed.

20 September Tender for the dam design and construction was put out, with submissions deadline of one week.

18-22 September Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust (DWCT) and WWT experts undertook a drone topographical survey and ground-truthing of the dam cross-section with local communities.

16 September CEO and Head of Conservation from WWT, and senior DWCT trust staff, met with authorities and a joint coordinating task force was established to oversee finalisation of the dam design and its construction.

6 September Sources for local materials identified.

2 September Donations up to £24,500, thank you for all the support!

27 August Local authorities agreed for WWT and DWCT to develop a dam solution with the local communities, department of irrigation and other stakeholders.

£110,000

raised of £110,000 target