Commission
Prix Pictet Commission 2009
Protecting the Environment and building sustainable livelihoods in Madagascar
In 2009 Pictet is proud to support the work that Azafady, a UK charity and Malagasy-registered NGO, is carrying out in Madagascar.
Madagascar has suffered severe environmental degradation, but still retains some of the highest biodiversity anywhere. Azafady’s aim is to enable the poorest communities in Madagascar to develop sustainable ways of living and to increase local access to health care and education. Azafady’s programmes emphasise training, capacity building and education geared towards helping local people to help themselves.
That is why the Partners of Pictet & Cie have decided to support Azafady’s Voly-hazo project, which is related to the theme of the Prix Pictet 2009 - Earth. This initiative aims to preserve the earth from degradation and the eventual desertification that is seen so widely in Madagascar, with a programme of tree planting and preservation of the natural forest. A further aim is to promote the capacity of local forest management institutions to engage people in local communities in planning, implementation and monitoring activities, in order to reduce forest dependence and the depletion of forest resources. The project is intended to help alleviate poverty and will be of long-term benefit to local people in the Anosy Region of Madagascar. Voly-hazo is busy on the ground with reforestation activities, environmental education for children and adults, providing training in fuel-efficient stove construction, and building capacity of local forest management committees.
American photographer Ed Kashi, who was nominated to Prix Pictet for his series Curse of the Black Gold: 50 Years of Oil in the Niger Delta, has been commissioned to visit Madagascar and produce a series of photographs that will highlight many of the issues that Azafady are focusing on in this unique and endangered environment.
The winner of the 2009 commission was announced on 22 October 2009 at the Passage de Retz, Paris. The images made by Ed Kashi for the Prix Pictet Commission 2009 will be shown at the Diemar/Noble Photography Gallery in London, 20 April – 1 May 2010.
Click here to download a press release about the 2009 Commission
Read Ed Kashi's first impressions on Madagascar
