The documentary film "Ivohiboro: The Lost Forest," featuring Patricia Wright, will be screened on Saturday, April 26, at 11 am at the Sag Harbor Cinema. Wright is a distinguished service professor in the Department of Anthropology and a professor of Conservation Biology. The event is organized by the South Fork Natural History Museum and Nature Center's Young Environmentalists Society and the Institute for the Conservation of Tropical Environments (ICTE). A Q&A session with Wright, the founder and executive director of ICTE and Centre ValBio, will follow the screening.
"Ivohiboro" showcases the Ivohiboro rainforest located on the Ivohibe massif in southeast Madagascar, a hidden oasis at 1,500 meters above sea level. Wright, a globally recognized primatologist, leads an international team of researchers on a 30-day expedition to explore the rainforest's biodiversity. The expedition aims to study and catalog new species and understand how the forest has survived in harsh conditions. The documentary, created by French filmmakers Lauren Portes and Fitzgerald Jego, highlights these efforts.
Wright expressed her astonishment at discovering the rainforest amid the arid landscape of central Madagascar. "To discover a rainforest in the middle of that arid, burned landscape stretching as far as the eye could see, was shocking, exhilarating, like a mirage in a desert," she said. Wright hopes the discovery provides inspiration for conserving and restoring biodiversity-rich forests across Madagascar.
Admission to the screening is free, but registration is required by emailing info@sofo.org. Sag Harbor Cinema is located at 90 Main Street, Sag Harbor, New York. The documentary will be shown again on Monday, May 5, at 6 pm at The Explorers Club in New York City.