Madagascan President discusses conservation challenges with Cambridge experts

Madagascar is one of the world’s great biodiversity hotspots, having been isolated from major continents for millions of years. The country has a great diversity of habitats, and its flora and fauna have evolved into unique species, including some of the world’s most iconic species, such as lemurs and baobabs. Madagascar’s marine environment – in particular its mangroves and coral reefs – also has global significance.

As with biodiversity in much of the world, Madagascar’s habitats, animals and plants are under threat from a number of different factors, particularly deforestation and the illegal wildlife trade. However, President Rajaonarimampianina has a strong track record on tackling issues of conservation, including having committed to trebling marine protected areas.

A key part of the President’s visit was to the Cambridge Conservation Initiative (CCI), where he took part in a roundtable discussion with experts on Madagascar from the CCI and external conservation bodies. He opened the roundtable with a speech in which he outlined his vision for biodiversity conservation and how it fits into and supports the wider sustainable development of the country, highlighting challenges where he feels the University of Cambridge and the wider UK-based conservation community might be of greatest value in supporting the government and people of Madagascar in addressing these challenges.

Dr Mike Rands, Executive Director of the Cambridge Conservation Initiative, said: “Madagascar is an extremely important country from a biodiversity perspective and President Rajaonarimampianina has a strong track record on tackling the conservation challenges faced by his country. We look forward to learning from his knowledge and experience and sharing our own expertise to find ways to help address these challenges.”

A number of CCI partners have strong links to Madagascar, with many having been involved in building the capacity of conservation researchers and NGOs within the country for a number of years. Representatives from Fauna & Flora International, IUCN, BirdLife International and the Tropical Biology Association, the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and Blue Ventures were also involved in the roundtable discussion.

Each year, Cambridge hosts the Student Conference on Conservation Science, which attracts 200 young researchers from around 60 countries, and provides bursaries and internships for around 30 scientists from low- and middle-income countries. The number of delegates from Madagascar has grown rapidly: the first delegates began attending in 2001, but in March 2016 one in ten of all talks will be by a Madagascan delegate.