Natural wonders of Madagascar

Unique wildlife, flora and fauna make the 'Big Island' an ideal destination for discovery tourists.

Madagascar is a treasure trove of natural wonders. Not for nothing is it known as the "Big Island", as it is the fourth-largest island in the world, but the name really speaks to its incredible biodiversity.

Approximately 95 percent of Madagascar's reptiles, 89 percent of its plant life and 92 percent of its mammals exist nowhere else and in recent years scientists have discovered nearly 1,000 new species including more than 100 mammals and reptiles.

Madagascar separated from the African continent an estimated 160 million years ago, developing its own ecosystems and extraordinary wildlife in almost complete isolation. Today the island harbors lush rainforests, tropical dry forests, plateaus and deserts.

Its long coastline is home to some of the world's largest coral reefs and the most extensive mangroves in the Western Indian Ocean.

Madagascar's varied climate has contributed to its staggering biodiversity. While it is an unfortunate paradox that the island can suffer simultaneously from cyclones and droughts, a dizzying array of plants and animals call Madagascar home as a result. More than 11,000 endemic plant species, including seven species of the famous baobab tree, share the island with a vast array of mammals, reptiles and amphibians. These include the critically endangered lemur, Silky Sifaka; also known as the "angel of the forest" due to its white fur, which is one of the rarest mammals on earth. Another threatened animal is the Ploughshare tortoise which can only be found in a small area in the northwest of Madagascar, where as few as 1,000 survive. To highlight some of the dangers, the World Wildlife Fund said that Ploughshare turtles can fetch up to $200,000 on the illegal exotic pet market. While Madagascar's bountiful natural assets are not in doubt, efforts to develop a sustainable tourism sector face challenges. Although an important foreign exchange earner, tourism is responsible for less than 5 percent of GDP and directly employs just 4.3 percent of the country's workforce.

Visitor numbers have also fluctuated wildly according to the prevailing political situation. After several years of strong growth, they reached a peak of 375,000 visitors in 2008, but a coup resulted in a 57 percent drop the following year to just 160,000. It is testament to Madagascar's enduring appeal that visitor numbers have rebounded, growing by approximately 15 percent a year, though they remain short of pre-coup figures.

"Since the return to political stability, we have prepared a National Development Plan that sets out our key objectives for the growth of tourism," said Jacques Andriantiana, minister of Tourism, Transport and Meteorology.

"This year we hope to attract between 300,000 and 500,000 visitors, which even at the low end is a 20 percent increase. It's an ambitious target, but with all our advantages I believe it is attainable.

"There is a strong desire at all levels of government to make tourism a pillar of the economy and an engine for growth," Andriantiana said.

"Nature is our greatest gift and our product is unique. In terms of our wildlife, flora and fauna, we are among the most attractive destinations in the world. What we lack in high-end tourism or shopping, for example, we more than make up for with natural beauty. We guarantee complete serenity, a very warm welcome and the perfect setting from which to appreciate all that Madagascar has to offer."

Despite its resilience, the sector is in dire need of investment particularly in its infrastructure, which will enable greater air and sea access to diversify its markets. According to the World Bank's air connectivity index, Madagascar ranks 193 out of 211 countries in terms of air connectivity.

"In comparison to some of our regional competitors, we are lagging behind a little in terms of infrastructure," Andriantiana said. "To attract more tourists we need to improve access to the island both by air and by sea. This means supporting our national carrier, Air Madagascar, upgrading our infrastructure, and attracting more airlines to come here. There is a lot of work to do on our roads, ports and airports, but we are putting in place a framework that we believe will be attractive to investors.

"We know that the Chinese are very strong in building infrastructure, so of course we call on them to come here and see what opportunities exist. Because of the crisis we need to move quickly and I think that urgency is also attractive to investors. We have a large Chinese community here, so we are used to working with Chinese companies and institutions. We are already expanding Port Tamatave and soon we will be calling on investors to help upgrade our airports, not only the main ones such as Ivato and Nosy Be, but all the smaller ones as well which are so important in the development of tourism."

Improving connectivity will also help Madagascar cast its net further in search of tourists. At present, France accounts for more than half of all arrivals followed by Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom. "We value our traditional markets," Andriantiana said, "but increasingly we are targeting Asia. We already have direct flights from China and Thailand, and we signed an aviation agreement with the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in December, so we expect numbers to keep rising from these parts of the world."

Another key challenge for policymakers is finding the right balance between development and conservation. Research shows that visitors to the island tend to be "discovery tourists", that is to say they travel to gain a unique experience, so protecting Madagascar's environment is vital not only for ecological reasons, but also plays an important part in the long-term growth of a sustainable tourism sector.

Madagascar has ratified most of the international environmental conventions, including the Kyoto Protocol. It has also adopted a variety of policies aimed at safeguarding the environment and in 2010 passed a law banning the export of exotic wood, most notably rosewood. On the frontline of these efforts are the Madagascar National Parks, a unified government agency charged with the protection and management of Madagascar's most precious regions. With assistance from the World Bank and a number of NGOs, Madagascar National Parks now encompasses 51 protected areas and 21 national parks which protect 11 percent of the island's area.

The vast majority of tourists in Madagascar visit at least one of these parks during their stay, for example, the popular Andasibe-Mantadia national park near the capital, which boasts 11 species of lemur, including Madagascar's largest, the Indri.

"Lemurs tend to grab the headlines, but since all our plants and wildlife evolved essentially in a vacuum, they are just one of the wonders we have," said Madagascar National Parks General Manager, Guy Ramangason. "Our mission is primarily to protect the environment, but we are also proud to show off these wonders to the world. The tourists that visit our parks do so in a controlled manner and of course bring in important revenue which in turn helps our conservation efforts." Since the Madagascar National Parks was established, deforestation has fallen by more than 75 percent, but despite a ban on rosewood exports, illegal logging remains an issue."We know that the appetite for rosewood is enormous in China," said Ramangason. "Historically the exploitation of rosewood in Madagascar was more or less controlled, but after the coup the ability of the state to manage and protect the rosewood forests was restricted. Certain people took advantage of the situation and we saw what amounted to a kind of gold rush of illegal logging and smuggling.

There is now a moratorium on the export of rosewood, but I would still appeal to people in China to consider that while rosewood may be desirable, that can have a very severe environmental and economic impact here in Madagascar."

(China Daily 04/22/2015 page18)