 Acutely endangered Black and White Ruffed Lemur |
When the vast island continent of Madagascar wrenched itself free from the mighty Gondwanaland tens of millions of years ago, it took with it a veritable Noah's Ark of plant and animal species, and established itself as a unique ecosystem that remains so to this day. But only just.
The planet's eighth continent remained largely undisturbed for the majority of its existence and has only felt the influence of man in the last two thousand years. In this short time, hungry humans have deforested 85% of the landmass, felled huge boabab, tamarind and ebony stands, remodelled vast tracts for agriculture and placed most of the endemic flora and fauna on the endangered and threatened lists.
Yet even as a developing country with some of the poorest people in the world, Madagascar retains a unique beauty and charm that attracts tourists, adventurers and scientists from all over the globe. But as an evolving nation still struggling to distance itself from a hectic colonial past, the population's priorities are not necessarily focussed on environmental conservation and preservation.
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