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Madagascar
This plant-rich island contains about 8.8 million hectares of primary forest.
Through the Durban Vision Process there are plans to triple the current protected area system up to 6 million hectares of land managed for conservation purposes.
From 2001-4 Missouri Botanical Garden analysed data on 1,200 endemic plant species to identify 80 priority sites for plant conservation (PAPC). In the course of a current project on wild plants for food and medicine, 166 IPAs have been identified using the PAPC sites, KBA data and a review of the protected area system, and data are being analysed on 1,000 threatened species to update the list.
48 of the IPAs are currently protected with 30 more under review, which will bring the total of IPAs under legal protection to 78 (46%). There is less information on management at sites and future mechanisms to conserve these sites must include community involvement and on the ground conservation.
Coordinating organisations:
- Missouri Botanical Garden (Priority Areas for Plant Conservation 2001-2004) and analysis of endemic and threatened plants
- BGCI
- Conservation International
- Madagascar Plant Specialist Group for IPAs within the Wild Plants for Food and Medicine Project.