Madagascar, the fourth largest island in the world, is often referred to as the seventh continent and home of a ‘magnificent menagerie’. The island was formed when it separated from other land masses about 150 to 180 million years ago, and supports many species that are found nowhere else in the world (such as lemurs).

The entire eastern side of Madagascar receives exceptionally high rainfall (up to 6000 mm per year in some places), and used to be covered with dense rainforest but, due to slash-and-burn agricultural practices and the use of wood as fuel, only about 10% of the original forest cover remains.

Besides being a home to a ‘magnificent menagerie’, the forests are a valuable asset to the local people, not only for the resources and ecosystem services that they provide but also, as attractions to bring tourists into these remote areas. Tourism is a potential source of cash income for local people employed as guides or porters and through the sale of food and handmade goods.

The loss of forest habitats means that the animals and insects that live in the forests are also disappearing. Conservation International has listed Madagascar as one of the world’s biodiversity “hotspots” due to the combination of high levels of biological diversity and the real possibility that, if nothing is done to stop deforestation, many of these species may very soon become extinct.

Masoala Peninsula is one of the few places in the world where rainforests and coral reefs exist side by side. Slash and burn practices in the interior lead to erosion, and the soil that is carried in the rivers down to the sea settles on the reefs, smothering them and causing further loss of biodiversity and impacting negatively on the marine resources that sustain coastal communities.