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Madagascar travel forum and discussion board launched at WildMadagascar.org Place for Press Release April 28, 2005 WildMadagascar.org, a leading information site on Madagascar, today launched a beta version of a travel forum on Madagascar. The forum will serve as a place where people can discuss travel in Madagascar and the surrounding region. "The forum will be a great place for people to share their Madagascar travel experiences," says Dylan Lossie, a moderator in the forum. "I think it will also be a great resource for people planning their first trip to this remarkble country." Madagascar, the world's fourth largest island, has some of the best wildlife on the planet. Isolated in the Indian Ocean off the coast of southern Africa, about 70% of the estimated 250,000 species found on the island exist nowhere else on the globe. The island is home to such evolutionary oddities as lemurs, a group of primates endemic to the island; brilliantly colored lizards including geckos and chameleons; tenrecs, spiny hedgehog-like creatures; and the fossa, a carnivorous animal that looks like a cross between a puma and a dog but is closely related to the mongoose. This assemblage of peculiar and unique animals has made Madagascar the setting for a new film to be released by Dreamworks in May 2005. The film is expected to increase Madagascar's attractiveness as a travel destination. In addition to its incredible wildlife, the island also has an unusual history, fascinating cultural traditions, and spectacular landscapes including bizarre limestone rock formations known as tsingy, rain forests, and coral reefs. Place to share pictures, experiences; Ask questions "As more people become interested in visiting Madagascar it will be important for them to have a place where they can discuss travel in the country," says Rhett A. Butler, founder of WildMadagascar.org. "This forum will enable registered users to share pictures and experiences from their travel and ask questions of other Madagascar travelers." Beyond the forum, the WildMadagascar.org site has a wealth of photos and information on the country including descriptions of parks and wildlife
In the 1980s and 1990s Borneo underwent a remarkable transition. Its forests were levelled at a rate unparalled in human history. Borneo's rainforests went to industrialized countries like Japan and the United States in the form of garden furniture, paper pulp and chopsticks. Initially most of the timber was taken from the Malaysian part of the island in the northern states of Sabah and Sarawak. Later forests in the southern part of Borneo, an area beloging to Indonesia and known as Kalimantan, became the primary source for tropical timber. Today the forests of Borneo are but a shawdow of those of legend.
Yesterday the World Wildlife Fund released "Borneo's Lost World: Newly Discovered Species on Borneo," a report showing that at least 361 new species have been identified and described on the Asian island between 1994 and 2004: 260 insects, 50 plants, 30 freshwater fish, 7 frogs, 6 lizards, 5 crabs, 2 snakes and a toad. Much of the island's wildlife species -- even the largest mammals -- have yet to be closely studied by scientists. For example, WWF and other scientists just discovered in 2003 that Borneo's pygmy elephants -- isolated from mainland Asian elephants when Borneo was cut off from the mainland around 18,000 years ago -- are genetically distinct from other Asian elephants and are likely a new subspecies.
The destruction of Borneo's rainforests and other ecosystems, like its peat lands, has put many of the island's species at risk. Threatened species in Borneo include orangutans, elephants, rhinos, clouded leopards, sun bears and Bornean gibbons. According to the WWF report, the island is also home to at least "10 primate species, more than 350 bird species, 150 reptiles and amphibians and 15,000 plants."
"Borneo is undoubtedly one of the most important centers of biodiversity in the world," says Tom Dillon, director of species conservation at WWF. "Losing the heart of Borneo would be an unacceptable tragedy not only for Borneo and its people, but also for the world. It is really now or never." It is not too late to save Borneo's remaining forests. WWF has launched an effort with the three countries that share the island to "conserve the area known as the 'Heart of Borneo' -- a total of 137,000 square miles of equatorial rain forest -- through a network of protected areas and sustainably managed forest." Doing so will require international cooperation led by the governments of Borneo and supported by a global effort that includes contributions from western countries. Releated reading: News index | RSS | News Feed Advertisements: Organic Apparel from Patagonia | Insect-repelling clothing
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