Protected forest overwhelmed by gem hunters

ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar - A sapphire rush has brought tens of thousands of people into the remote rain forests of eastern Madagascar, disfiguring a protected environmental area and prompting calls for military intervention.

More high-quality sapphires have been found in the biodiverse area known as Corridor Ankeniheny-Zahamena in the past six months than were found in the entire country over the past 20 years, according to Vincent Pardieu, a French gemologist who has been visiting mines there for more than a decade and was in the area last month.

"I can tell you this is big," Pardieu said. Gem trade shows around the world now have "nice, big, super-clean sapphires" from the region. "It's the most important discovery in Madagascar for the past 20 or 30 years."