Kirindy- Ambadira (Central Menabe)

It is undeniable that Madagascar is a very special island for its exceptional wealth of biodiversity, its unique flora and fauna, which make our country one of the world’s foremost nature sanctuaries. Unfortunately, particularly over the last two decades, anthropogenic change has drastically affected Madagascar’s natural treasures. Every year, thousands of hectares of forest disappear due to logging and slash-and-burn agriculture. Most of the endemic fauna of Madagascar is forest-dependent, which means that once the forest becomes degraded or vanishes, the animals also disappear. Many species of endemic Malagasy reptiles, birds and mammals are currently on the verge of extinction due mainly to habitat loss and illegal exploitation. But I am happy to say that there are committed NGOs, institutions and individuals who are aware of the urgent need to set up strategies for environmental protection before it is too late. This is particularly true for these unique creatures, the lemurs, which symbolise the uniqueness of Madagascar’s biodiversity. During the past twenty years, almost every year, new species of these “denizens of the forest” have been discovered because of the fruitful collaboration of Malagasy and foreign primatologists, and there are probably still some hidden treasures in our forests. Almost 20% of the world’s primates are found in Madagascar. The loss of lemurs has implications for the entire country, and without efforts to better safeguard this precious national resource, all of Madagascar’s residents will ultimately suffer. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Primate Specialist Group of the IUCN SSC for organising the Lemur Red- Listing and Conservation-Planning Workshop in July 2012 in Antananarivo. This meeting of 60 hard-working national and international primatologists agreed on a common strategy for the conservation of lemurs. The wide variety of both conservation and development projects in the different priority sites for lemur conservation is a key feature of this new strategy. Without doubt, using lemurs as “flagships” for public awareness and education campaigns will be crucial to stimulate general interest in conservation within Madagascar and to draw even more international attention to the importance of this country for conserving global biological diversity. In this regard, I do believe that the lemurs will continue to exercise their attractive powers over tourists: seeing lemurs in their natural habitats once in a lifetime is a dream for nature lovers and naturalists around the world. Notably, tourism contributes a substantial amount of foreign exchange to Madagascar’s economy. Conservation is a collective task that demands the involvement of all of us. Implementing this lemur conservation strategy will thus only be successful if we work together to face the challenges ahead. We will not let the lemurs vanish from our forests because we are not alone in our battle. Lemurs are a world heritage for future generations.