Indian Ocean: The real Madagascar and how we can save it By
Charlie Gardner, WWF Madagascar and Western Indian Ocean
Madagascar has been in the public eye a lot in recent years. Not
just because of the computer-animated films of the same name,
but also last year’s wonderful BBC documentary series. Both
paint a picture of a tropical idyll, swarming with weird and
wonderful creatures found nowhere else on earth, and seemingly
surviving in peaceful tranquillity. The reality, unfortunately,
is rather different. Madagascar is in the grip of an
environmental crisis. Forests have been disappearing at alarming
rates, fish and other marine resources are dwindling, and a lot
of species - from lemurs to tortoises, fish eagles to chameleons
and plants too numerous to count - are moving ever closer to
extinction. This would be terrible enough on its own, but the
effect of these losses on the people of Madagascar is even more
tragic. Madagascar’s population is mostly rural and extremely
poor. Many families depend heavily o