The Biological Wealth of an Impoverished Country: Birds: Page 4 Endangered Species Handbook

Madagascar and other Islands

The Biological Wealth of an Impoverished Country: Birds: Page 4

As more and more bird-watchers come to Madagascar, the government may place a higher priority on bird conservation. A special fund to which bird-watchers could contribute might be established to purchase and maintain refuges and to conduct conservation education and other projects for local people, especially in aquatic habitats. The preservation of threatened Madagascan birds has reached a critical point. The most endangered habitats, the last of the western forests, aquatic environments, and many parts of the eastern lowland rainforests, continue to decline. The fragmentation of forests that forces animals into islands of isolation needs to be studied and remedied by establishing habitat corridors between them. One Malagasy ornithologist, Aristide Andrianarimisa, is researching the effects of forest fragmentation on birds.

Pete Morris and Frank Hawkins, authors of Birds of Madagascar. A Photographic Guide, state that their purpose in writing their book was to inspire people to visit Madagascar and take an interest in its avifauna and the plight of so many threatened birds, as well as to promote greater interest in wildlife and conservation among the Malagasy people. Ecotourists bring revenue to the island and, thereby, help to preserve natural areas and wildlife (Morris and Hawkins 1998). The discovery of a new species of songbird, the Cryptic Warbler, by bird-watchers in Ranomafana National Park, is an exciting byproduct of ecotourism and an indication that the study of Madagascar's birds has just begun. It also proves that amateurs play an important role in bird observation. Birds of Madagascar establishes a good precedent by identifying, on a species-by-species basis, the avian habitats and those birds lacking reserves within their ranges. The authors request that people coming to see the wildlife of the island let the government know why they have come in order to convince decision makers that biodiversity conservation represents a worthy investment (Morris and Hawkins 1998).