A STUDENT from Worcester is hoping to follow in the footsteps of Sir David Attenborough.

Jon Goodman, a second-year environmental science student at the University of Bath, will travel to Madagascar this summer to volunteer with award-winning charity Azafady on the island’s lemur conservation programme.

Lemur conservation on the island was featured in Sir David Attenborough’s recent Madagascar series on the BBC.

He will be using his skills in researching local plant and wildlife, and the information gained will help to protect the lemurs’ habitat, run education projects and boost breeding programmes.

Mr Goodman said: “Madagascar is a uniquely beautiful but very impoverished island. Many of the rural communities do not even have access to the basic things like clean water and sanitation. The forest is vanishing at an alarming rate with slash and burn agricultural practices but the people need food and fuel to survive.

“Unless Western organisations like Azafady become involved to help improve the lives of Malagasy people and conserve this precious environment, this valuable resource will be lost.”

Mr Goodman will be using his own savings to cover his airfares, subsistence and accommodation expenses while working on the project but needs to raise a further £1,200 to fund the work of the charity in Madagascar.

He will be holding fund-raising events at Sainsbury’s supermarket, St John’s, tomorrow and at the Co-op in Bromyard on Sunday, June 26.

For more details about the conservation project, visit madagascar.co.uk.