Madagascar is home to 5% of the world’s species, including over 100 species of lemurs. Although, the country is impoverished which leads to the environment being exploited as the only means to make a living/produce food. This exploitation has led to the destruction of many unique ecosystems which endangers many animals since they have limited habitats. The people of Madagascar, and from around the world, are trying to help conserve these habitats by creating protected areas. Protected areas are defined as an area of land or sea dedicated to protection and maintenance of biological diversity and of natural and cultural resources and managed through legal and other effective means. These protected areas are usually placed around threatened species habitats, unique ecosystems and places with scientific or cultural value. They are categorized with a number ranging from 1-6; these numbers represent the type of protected area, whether it be a nature reserve (I) or an area used for natural resources (VI). The higher the number, the less natural the environment that’s being protected. One of the main issues with these areas is that they must be approved by both houses of Malagasy Parliament, which is problematic due to the political instability of the country. Despite these challenges though the government has managed to protect almost 5 times as much land since 2013, with over 10% of the country being protected.
The second lecture we heard today was about the recent extinctions that have occurred within Madagascar. The interesting thing about most of the extinctions that have occurred is that they mostly effect animals that are considered to be “giant” species, such as elephant birds, hippos, and the Archaeoindros which was a gorilla sized lemur. There are currently considered to be 17 extinct or “subfossil” giant lemurs. A subfossil is a fossil that are so new, they haven’t been fully fossilized. These help scientists figure out a lot about the animals pasts. The main question regarding these extinctions is what caused them? Some of the theories include fire, climate change and synergy. Although, synergy is considered to be the leading theory currently. This theory incorporates both human and natural causes.
