(English) Verraux’s lemur – an addition which could make a difference

Mae’n ddrwg gen i, mae’r cofnod hwn dim ond ar gael mewn English.

Two lemurs have been added to the list of the 25 most-endangered primates on Earth. But there are hopes that one may spark new interest in and protection for, a vital ecological habitat.

Madagascar is the only country on Earth to which lemurs are native, but 95 per cent of lemur species are at risk of extinction.

And at last month’s International Primatological Society Congress, two species – Verreaux’s sifaka and the Mongoose lemur – were added to the list of the world’s 25 most endangered primate species.

Among other things, this means that Madagascar is home now to seven of the 25 species – more than any of the other three regions which are home to non-human primates (the rest of Africa, Asia, and the Tropics of the Americas), which are each home to six.

This is extremely bad news, and another reminder not just of how incredible and vital the Malagasy environment is, but also the level of peril it as a whole, and the species within it, are currently experiencing.

But the new recognition of the Verreaux’s sifaka’s situation may be a step towards the protection of at least one part of that ecosystem.

Because while the world’s rainforests are worthy of the attention they receive, and deserve even more, Madagascar’s dry forests have so far received much less. And it is in these dry forests that the Verreaux’s sifaka is found.

The dry forests are home to vast numbers of species of flora and fauna – though fewer than its rainforests, a larger number of species found only in Madagascar live in the dry forests. But they are under severe pressure, including from Malagasy communities who have traditionally used fire to ‘clear’ and ‘renew’ land for farming.

Madagascar is the world’s fourth-poorest country, and 90 per cent of its population live on or below the global poverty baseline of £2.22 per day. People face hunger or its threat every day.

And even as communities living on the edge of the island’s forests recognise their beauty and want to protect them, it is understandable that their priority is to protect themselves and their families, including by ensuring they have enough to eat.

Domenec Romanello, an anthropologist working in Madagascar’s South West, and part of a proposed ‘Madagascar Dry Forest Alliance’, said: ‘People love the forest they call home and want to preserve it. But they are stuck in a system that does not give them the ability to preserve it because of their immediate needs and the immediate needs of their children.’

The Alliance hopes that the – otherwise entirely negative – inclusion of the Verraux’s sifaka on the list might inspire greater international interest, attention and support for Madagascar’s dry forests, including as a first step, in pieces like this.

At Money for Madagascar we know that Malagasy people love and care about the forests upon which we all rely. We know also that Malagasy communities facing hunger will always put the safety of their families and themselves first – as they must and should.

We are working to provide Malagasy people with the platform from which they can define the challenges that face them, then formulate and deliver the solutions to them, including improving their livelihoods and protecting and expanding the Malagasy forests, and the flora and fauna within them.

We, too, hope that Verreaux’s sifaka can be a catalyst to the protection of the Malagasy dry forests – less famous, perhaps, but certainly no less important, than the island’s rainforests.