The DreamWorks version of Madagascar is exactly that, a fantasy. The island nation is no unpeopled paradise teeming with dancing lemurs, as depicted in the animated Madagascar film. On the contrary,…
Camera traps bring you closer to the secretive natural world and are an important conservation tool to study wildlife. This week we’re meeting a species endemic to Madagascar: the red-fronted…
Earlier this month, Madagascar’s government suspended a controversial gold-mining operation in Vohilava commune in the country’s southeast. Many local people welcomed the news, which comes after years of tension over…
ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar — To achieve its ambitious large-scale reforestation goals, Madagascar is turning to the sky. The country will use drones to plant trees in isolated areas. The plan is…
A year ago, Base Resources, an Australian mining firm, seemed to be nearing the “go” phase of a large mineral sands project in southwest Madagascar. Although some local people opposed…
The Indian embassy in Madagascar went solar to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on October 2, becoming the first Indian embassy to embrace renewable energy. An 8…
ANALAMAZAOTRA NATIONAL PARK, Madagascar — Hobbled by the COVID-19 pandemic, Madagascar’s tourism industry took its first step toward recovery. On Sept. 5, the quasi-governmental agency Madagascar National Parks (MNP) reopened…
Latin America has more than twice as many plant species as tropical Africa and Southeast Asia, accounting for about a third of global biological diversity, concludes a new study published…
ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar — Charcoal is the main source of fuel Malagasy people burn at home, but its prevalence is accelerating the destruction of forests on an island famous for its…
ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar — Traditionally called radaka, large frog species endemic to Madagascar are appreciated for their delicate taste, which is similar to chicken. Although people have hunted the frogs for…
In his previous life, Matt Hill worked on Wall Street as a quantitative analyst (a.k.a. a “quant”) for stock portfolios worth billions of dollars. Now, at the helm of a…
ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar — Madagascar's protected area network has failed to improve the lives of people, the country's environment minister observed at a recent meeting, setting the stage for an overhaul of how…
When searching for mouse lemurs in Madagascar's forests, scientists seek out their gleaming eyes in the dark. Their eyes are large for an animal about the size of a fist…
ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar — The possibility of lemurs contracting COVID-19 is worrying Madagascar's scientific and conservation community. Members sounded the alarm in the days following the country’s state of health emergency…
When Hans Peter Lankes, a top official at the International Finance Corporation, visited Madagascar in February, he made it a point to tour the IFC-backed BoViMa facility near the southern…
A fire tore through the office of Madagascar's top environmental agency on the night of July 15, eviscerating documents that lie at the heart of its work as a regulator.…
NOSY BE, Madagascar — Far offshore from the luxury resorts and seafood restaurants in the resort town of Nosy Be in northwestern Madagascar, three local fishermen are pulling on their…
For crab fishers on the western coast of Madagascar, where incomes are less than a thirtieth of those in the U.S., the Lunar New Year brings some cheer. Demand spikes…
MANTADIA, Madagascar — In 2017, more than 1,500 golden mantella frogs hopped into breeding ponds near the Ambatovy nickel and cobalt mine in eastern Madagascar. Their reintroduction to the wild…
Human actions have pushed 13 more lemur species, the iconic primates native to Madagascar, to the brink of extinction, according to an update to the list of the world’s threatened…
ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar — This spring, Madagascar lost a prominent champion of the country’s system of protected areas. Guy Suzon Ramangason, a former director-general of Madagascar National Parks (MNP), the quasi-governmental…
Authorities in Madagascar have arrested three poachers carrying 144 radiated tortoises, the largest known seizure of its kind in almost two years in the country. They recovered the tortoises, which…
On May 15, authorities in the northeastern province of Si Sa Ket in Thailand arrested two Cambodians and six Thai workers for illegally removing a large Siamese rosewood tree from…
ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar — Four kilometers (2.5 miles) from downtown Antananarivo, Tsarasaotra Park has long been an oasis of calm in Madagascar’s capital city. It is the first private site to…
The barbed terrain forged by the tsingy topography in western Madagascar has, for millions of years, sheltered the dry forests that grow between the limestone spires. This year, even before the fire…
With just over 1,200 cases and ten deaths, it may appear that Madagascar has been spared the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic. But in the deep south of the country,…
Madagascar is often called the “red island” because of its iron-rich soils. In school, Malagasy children are taught that their island was green until human beings destroyed most of the…
Between the cacao fields of northwest Madagascar and the vanilla of the northeast, a chain of rainforests bob along the highland interior. Tsaratanana Reserve, home to the country’s highest peak,…
Marine protected areas have expanded rapidly in the past decade. Even so, less than 8% of the world’s oceans are safeguarded by MPAs and only around one-third of that area…
The COVID-19 crisis has wiped out half a billion dollars in expected tourism revenues for Madagascar since January, according to official estimates. For the megadiverse island nation, which struggles with…
