Biodiversity Conservation in Madagascar

As mentioned earlier, Madagascar is recognized as one of world's 'hottest' biodiversity hotspots (Myers et al. 2000; Myers 2003; Goodman and Benstead 2005) because its large, diverse and highly endemic biota is severely threatened by unsustainable practices such as shifting agriculture, uncontrolled burning and extensive charcoal production, all of which place intense pressure on the island's remaining natural areas. Over the last three decades a major effort has been made to expand and strengthen the system of protected areas, which now includes ca. 5.7–5.9 million hectares of terrestrial parks and reserves, many of which were established during the last 15 years (Kremen et al. 2008, atlas.rebioma.net). Despite these efforts, however, deforestation and habitat degradation have continued at an alarming rate as the human population has doubled in the last 25 years, reaching an estimated 22.4 million by mid-2014 (Population Reference Bureau 2015). More than three-quarters of the population lives below the poverty level (World Bank 2015) and almost all Malagasy are directly or indirectly dependent on the island's natural resources as a major source of food, shelter, fuel, and traditional medicine. Studies of Madagascar's forest cover using aerial photographs and Landsat images have estimated a decline in area of 40 % since the 1950s, with a rate of forest loss of 0.9 % per year between 1990 and 2000 (Harper et al. 2007). Organized, large-scale illegal exploitation of precious hardwoods and endangered plant and animal species increased dramatically during the last political crisis (roughly 2009–2014), adding to an already alarming situation (Schuurman and Lowry II 2009; Waeber 2009; Caramel 2015). Furthermore, because a high proportion of Madagascar's species have restricted geographic ranges, they are particularly vulnerable to changes in forest cover. For instance, in a study of 2243 species in 12 different taxonomic groups (including both plants and invertebrates), Allnutt et al. (2008) estimated that 9.2 % of them were driven to extinction between 1950 and 2000 due to forest loss, in addition to the 32.9 % thought to have gone extinct prior to 1950.

Beyond these alarming conclusions, it remains to be seen to what extent the present system of protected areas can effectively preserve what remains of Madagascar's unique biodiversity. Does the system include the full array of species, and do they have populations large enough to be viable over time?