Rakotoarinivo, Mijoro (Joro)
Job TitleKMCC GIS Unit Manager & Palms Conservation Officer
DepartmentConservation Directorate
SectionKew Madagascar Conservation Centre (KMCC)
Science Teams:
Joined Kew: 2008
Foreign Language(s): Malagasy (mother tongue), French and English
Qualifications & Appointments
BSc, Univ. of Antanarivo, Madagascar, 2001
MSc, Univ. of Antanarivo, Madagascar, 2002
DEA, Univ. of Antanarivo, Madagascar, 2005
PhD, Univ. of Antanarivo, Madagascar, 2008
IUCN-SSC Madagascar Plant Specialist Group (GSPM)
Role
KMCC GIS Unit Manager
Managing the KMCC GIS Unit, which provides database and mapping services for KMCC and the Kew Madagascar Science Team programme in Madagascar. The main responsibility is the Brahms database that contains Kew’s collection data for Madagascar and ensuring that the data are of sufficient quality for systematics research, distribution mapping, conservation assessments, ecological profiling and climate change modelling. Working with the HLAA GIS Unit, the KMCC team are developing local capacity for vegetation mapping and monitoring, predictive mapping of species and remote sensing.
Research on the systematics, ecology and biogeography of palms
Providing local expertise on the palms of Madagascar. Working with the HLAA Palm Section on an integrated research programme covering the systematics, ecology, population genetics and biogeography of the palms of Madagascar. The aim is to improve the conservation management of endangered palm species and our understanding of patterns of diversity for Madagascar.
Projects
- Madagascar Aloe Conservation Project
- CEPF Madagascar Vegetation Mapping - COMPLETED 2007
- Diversity and Conservation of Madagascar Palms
- Ex-situ conservation of Madagascar's endangered orchids
- Field Guide to the Orchids of Madagascar - COMPLETED 2009
- Grasses of Madagascar
- Itremo Massif Protected Area Project
- Madagascar Orchid Conservation Project
- Madagascar Agroforestry Livelihoods Project
- Madagascar GIS
- MSBP Madagascar
- Field Guide to the Palms of Madagascar - COMPLETED 2006
- Phylogenetic Diversity of the Malagasy Legumes: New Insights for the Conservation of the Malagasy Flora
- Yams of Madagascar: systematics, conservation and sustainable use
Selected Recent Publications
Rakotoarinivo, M., Ranarivelo, T. and Dransfield, J. (2007). A new species of Beccariophoenix from the high plateau of Madagascar. Palms 51: 63-75.
Shapcott, A., Rakotoarinivo, M., Smith, R.J., Lysakova, G., Fay, M.F. and Dransfield, J. (2007). Can we bring Madagascar’s critically endangered palms back from the brink? Genetics, ecology and conservation of the critically endangered palm Beccariophoenix madagascariensis. Botanical Journal of the Linnaean Society 154: 589-608.
Dransfield, J., Leroy, B., Metz, X. and Rakotoarinivo, M. (2008). Tahina, A new palm genus from Madagascar. Palms 52: 31-39.
Dransfield, J., Rakotoarinivo, M., Baker, W.J., Bayton, R.P., Fisher, J.B., Horn, J.W., Leroy, B. & Metz, X. (2008). A new Coryphoid palm genus from Madagascar. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 156: 79-91.
Rakotoarinivo, M. (2008). A Remarkable Ravenea from the mountain forest of Andilamena. Palms 52: 11-17.
Rakotoarinivo, M., Trudgen, M.S. and Baker, W.J. (2009). The Palms of Makira Protected Area, Madagascar. Palms 53: 125-146.
Rakotoarinivo, M. & Dransfield, J. (2010). New species of Dypsis and Ravenea (Arecaceae) from Madagascar. Kew Bulletin 65: 279-303.
Rakotoarinivo, M., Razafitsalama, J.L., Baker, W.J. and Dransfield, J. (2010). Analalava – a Palm conservation hotspot in Eastern Madagascar. Palms 54: 141-151.
