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Saving lemurs:
Action plan devised to save Madagascar's 101 lemur species
Date:
February 20,
2014
Source:
University of Western Ontario
Summary:
An Canadian primatologist has teamed with 18 lemur
conservationists and researchers, many of whom are from Madagascar or have been
working there for decades, to devise an action plan to save Madagascar's 101
lemur species. The action plan contains strategies for 30 different priority
sites for lemur conservation and aims to help raise funds for individual
projects. Lemurs, the most endangered mammal group on Earth, represent more
than 20 per cent of the world's primates. Native only to Madagascar, more than
90 percent of the species are threatened with extinction.
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Lemurs, the
most endangered mammal group on Earth, represent more than 20 per cent of the
world's primates. Native only to Madagascar, more than 90 percent of the
species are threatened with extinction.
A Western
University primatologist has teamed with 18 lemur conservationists and
researchers, many of whom are from Madagascar or have been working there for
decades, to devise an action plan to save Madagascar's 101 lemur species. The
action plan contains strategies for 30 different priority sites for lemur
conservation and aims to help raise funds for individual projects.
Ian
Colquhoun from Western's Faculty of Social Science co-authored a 'Policy Forum'
commentary titled "Averting Lemur Extinctions amid Madagascar's Political
Crisis" for the high-impact journal, Science, with many of the top
primatologists in the world, including Christoph Schwitzer, head of research at
Bristol Zoo Gardens and vice-chair for Madagascar of the International Union
for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) SSC Primate Specialist Group, and Russell
Mittermeier, President of Conservation International and Chair of the IUCN SSC
Primate Specialist Group.
Vital steps
outlined by the collaborators include effective management of Madagascar's
protected areas, the creation of more reserves directly managed by local
communities, and a long-term research presence in critical lemur sites.
"Through
seed dispersal and attracting income through ecotourism, lemurs have important
ecological and economic roles for Madagascar," says Colquhoun, a professor
in Western's Department of Anthropology and Chair of the Master's in
Environment and Sustainability Program in Western's Centre for Environment
& Sustainability. "I think there is huge potential for Malagasy all
over the island to take pride in their lemurs."
Native to
the shrinking and fragmented tropical and subtropical forests of Madagascar,
off Africa's Indian Ocean coast, lemurs are facing grave extinction risks
driven by human disturbance of their habitats. Combined with increasing rates
of poaching and the loss of funding for environmental programs by most
international donors in the wake of the political crisis in Madagascar,
challenges to lemur conservation are immense.
Story
Source:
The above
story is based on materials provided by University of Western Ontario. Note: Materials
may be edited for content and length.
Journal
Reference:
- C. Schwitzer, R. A. Mittermeier, S. E. Johnson, G. Donati, M. Irwin, H. Peacock, J. Ratsimbazafy, J. Razafindramanana, E. E. Louis, L. Chikhi, I. C. Colquhoun, J. Tinsman, R. Dolch, M. LaFleur, S. Nash, E. Patel, B. Randrianambinina, T. Rasolofoharivelo, P. C. Wright. Averting Lemur Extinctions amid Madagascar's Political Crisis. Science, 2014; 343 (6173): 842 DOI: 10.1126/science.1245783