wildmadagascar.orgMadagascar: stunning wildlife, landscapes, and cultural diversity

☰ Home - About - Contact ✕ About Madagascar Home Overview Flora Wildlife Environment Twitter Facebook About Contact WildMadagascar.org highlights Madagascar’s stunning wildlife, landscapes, and cultural diversity. Madagascar is a land like no other. An island roughly the size of Texas or France, Madagascar is home to more than 250,000 species of which 70% are found nowhere else on the globe. About Madagascar Wildlife People History Environment Photos Geography : Madagascar can be divided into five geographical regions: the east coast, the Tsaratanana Massif, the central highlands, the west coast, and the southwest. The highest elevations parallel the east coast, whereas the land slopes more gradually to the west coast. Geography of Madagascar Culture : are of the past; where in many areas taboo and tradition takes precedence over the law; and western-style religion is freely mixed with beliefs in sorcery and unparalleled funerary customs. The People of Madagascar Plant biodiversity : Madagascar is home to as many as 12,000 plant species70-80% of which are endemicmaking it one of the most diverse floras on the planet. Flora of Madagascar . Animal biodiversity : Madagascar has some of the highest biodiversity on the planet. Of roughly 200,000 known species found on Madagascar, about 150,000 are endemic. Unique to the island are more than 50 types of lemurs, 99 percent of its frog species, and 36 genera of birds. Madagascar houses 100 percent of the world’s lemurs, half of its chameleon species, 6 percent of its frogs, and none of its toads. Some species found in Madagascar have their closest relatives not in Africa but in the South Pacific and South America. Wildlife of Madagascar . Madagascar News ‘Mind-blowing’ new orchid species found in Madagascar forest canopy (March 22, 2024) - Scientists from Madagascar, the U.S. and Europe have described a new orchid species from the forests of central Madagascar, which has a record-breaking long nectar spur relative to its small flower size. - The orchid is pollinated by a species of hawkmoth with a very long tongue, similar to Darwin’s orchid, which was predicted to exist by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace in the 1800s. - Habitat of the newly described orchid species is threatened deforestation and mining activities, especially from the Ambatovy nickel and cobalt mine nearby, though Ambatovy is funding conservation actions to protect the species. - Madagascar’s unique biodiversity, including many species found nowhere else on Earth, is under serious threat from rapid deforestation driven by agriculture, fires and mining. Madagascar takes key step toward improving transparency of its fisheries (March 7, 2024) - Madagascar recently released its first fisheries transparency report, part of an effort to open up, democratize, and improve the sustainability of its fisheries sector. - The report is a key step in a process defined by the Fisheries Transparency Initiative (FiTI), a Seychelles-based nonprofit. - It contains important information on traditional, artisanal and industrial fisheries, a list of the laws and regulations governing the sector, tenure arrangements, and access agreements — including previously undisclosed information. - It also assesses the country’s transparency according to the availability and accessibility of data from six thematic areas as outlined by the FiTI Standard. Three new species of frogs found nestled in Madagascar’s pandan trees (February 1, 2024) - Scientists have described three new frog species that dwell exclusively in the spiky leaves of pandan trees in Madagascar’s eastern rainforests. - While the frogs are new to science, locals have observed them for generations, and they’ve been given names in Malagasy. - The frogs have a unique life cycle completely restricted to the trees, meaning they entirely depend entirely on intact pandan trees. - Pandan trees, from the genus Pandanus, are threatened by deforestation driven by mining, agriculture and development, while slashing, burning and deforestation threaten Madagascar’s extraordinary biodiversity in general. Beyond the myths: Anthropologist Alison Richard on Madagascar’s environmental realities and future (January 3, 2024) - Madagascar is celebrated for its extraordinary biodiversity, characterized by remarkably high rates of endemicism. However, Madagascar is also synonymous with loss, particularly the extinction of its largest animal species and the degradation of habitats. - The conventional wisdom holds that the island was entirely forested before human settlement, with early settlers decimating most of these forests. Alison Richard, a distinguished anthropologist, has challenged this traditional narrative of Madagascar’s environmental history by leveraging a growing body of research that suggests a more nuanced reality. - In The Sloth Lemur’s Song,” Richard weaves a captivating story covering the island’s geological past to its current conservation challenges. Her work critically assesses the narratives of blame, stemming from colonial history, that have influenced perceptions of Madagascar’s environmental issues. - In a recent interview with Mongabay, Richard discussed her research and conservation efforts in Madagascar and beyond. Photos: Top species discoveries from 2023 (December 27, 2023) - Scientists described a slew of new species this past year, including an electric blue tarantula, two pygmy squid, a silent frog, and some thumb-sized chameleons. - Experts estimate less than 20% of Earth’s species have been documented by Western science. - Although a species may be new to science, it may already be well known to local and Indigenous people and have a common name. - Many new species of plants, fungi, and animals are assessed as Vulnerable or Critically Endangered with extinction as soon as they are found, and many species may go extinct before they are named, experts say. Madagascar group aims to protect wildlife from stray cats & dogs (November 21, 2023) - In the biodiverse forests of Madagascar, stray cats and dogs pose threats to wildlife by hunting and harassing wild animals or transmitting diseases to them. - The Mad Dog Initiative, an American NGO, runs annual sterilization and rabies vaccination campaigns to reduce the strays’ impact. - However, it will take more time to achieve measurable impacts on wildlife, the group’s leaders say, and raising awareness among villagers and overcoming fadys,” or Malagasy taboos, remains a challenge. Newly described gecko from Madagascar a master of disguise (September 14, 2023) - Madagascar is a hotspot for gecko diversity, and the latest to appear on the tree of life is Uroplatus garamaso. - U. garamaso, with a length of 8.3-13.9 cm (3.3-5.5 in), is one of the larger leaf-tailed lizards inhabiting the island, but is still a master at hiding in plain sight. - The gecko’s known range is restricted to the forests in the north of the island: Montagne des Français, Montagne d’Ambre, and Ankarana in the Diana region. 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