The New Madagascar President Seems Conservation Minded

[Motherlode Chameleon]

The New Madagascar President Appears Conservation Minded

Here's a new article about the new freely elected President of Madagascar Hery Rajaonarimampianina. He appears to be conservation minded and is going to receive hundreds of millions of dollars for conservation of the countries wild lands. This article mostly addresses Rosewood issues however the new president being prompt about addressing conservation in his new presidency. Lets look forward an watch if he makes good on his goals with aid and support from conservationists.

http://news.mongabay.com/2014/0207-madagascar-rosewood-logging-fight.html

 

[SaintJimmy]

I hope this means less exportation from Madagascar. As much as I love having species from there come here, it needs to be monitored...

Did anyone else see the article of 1000's of reptiles/amphibians (some endangered) and chameleons that were close to death in a shipping crate?

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

I hope this means less exportation from Madagascar. As much as I love having species from there come here, it needs to be monitored...

Did anyone else see the article of 1000's of reptiles/amphibians (some endangered) and chameleons that were close to death in a shipping crate?

I did however that appears to have been a legal shipment where the airport flight got delayed and whose exporters failed. Meaning it was not a normal situation. There was not 1000's of reptiles it was 400 and it was a disaster that could have been avoided if the exporters would have collected there reptiles if they heard that the flight had been delayed. Apparently the article and details posted here were not from the most reputable source. All the chameleons in the pictures were legal CITES quotas species.

Kind Regards
Jeremy A. Rich

 

[laurie]

It seems the new president has the correct goals in stopping the rosewood trading. I hope he is able to use the resources as they are available to improve the lives of the indigenous population. The country has a long way to go but hopefully he is the start toward a healthy Madagascar.

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

It seems the new president has the correct goals in stopping the rosewood trading. I hope he is able to use the resources as they are available to improve the lives of the indigenous population. The country has a long way to go but hopefully he is the start toward a healthy Madagascar.

That is the way to go. Improved conditions for the Malagasy through recognition and conservation of the resource of the spectacular wild lands of Madagascar. Plus I hear the people are spectacular to and I cannot wait the opportunity to meet them.

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

Here's an article about the recent election and the economic state of Madagascar since the coup. Madagascar is a gem in regards to wildlife and examples of evolution. This resource even more than rivals the Galapagos Islands in regards to examples of evolution. This is an unique wildlife resource which could provide a lasting source of education and jobs for the local people. This resources prospects could put Malagasy on a triumphing path over poverty. Lets hope this goal is accomplished.

http://www.voanews.com/content/madagascars-new-president-brings-hope-of-economic-change/1822859.html

 

[CarlC]

I'll keep my hopes up for now that this new president will be conservation minded. Understand that he needs to talk like this now to receive funds that have been tied up for years. Lets see what happens once he settles in and the huge mining and timber companies come knocking.

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

I'll keep my hopes up for now that this new president will be conservation minded. Understand that he needs to talk like this now to receive funds that have been tied up for years. Lets see what happens once he settles in and the huge mining and timber companies come knocking.

The years before the coup conservation groups were saying Madagascar was on the path to many accomplished conservation goals. If that is an accurate statement I recommend the new president continue on that path. I know that two of largest preserves were created during that period such as the Ankeniheny Zahamena Corridor (established 2003) and Makira Preserve (conjured 2003-2008 officially established a preserve 2012) .

Here is some links about the creation of both huge protected areas.

A Site about Ankeniheny Zahamena Corridor
http://www.conservation.org/where/a.../ankeniheny-zahamena_corridor_madagascar.aspx

A Site about Makira Preserve
http://www.coderedd.org/redd-project/wildlife-conservation-society-makira-madagascar/#.UvaZALSdCrs

 

[Chris Anderson]

I'll keep my hopes up for now that this new president will be conservation minded. Understand that he needs to talk like this now to receive funds that have been tied up for years. Lets see what happens once he settles in and the huge mining and timber companies come knocking.

Agreed! Fingers crossed he continues to walk the walk on conservation topics once he's better established and the offers from the mining and timber companies start to seem like viable options to raise money for other things he needs to accomplish politically. It would be great if he could get Madagascar back on the right track, but he'll have a lot of temptation to side step in order to do that.

Chris

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

The new president has got the credentials (a graduate degree from Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières in Canada in accounting as well as studying finance there) to take on the economic problems of Madagascar. However whether or not he has got the conviction to stay to the agendas conservation, humanitarian issues along with the larger corporate issues and keep to the issues as promised is a legitimate concern.

 

[CarlC]

Jeremey read the link below. I think the guy who promised more conservation was blowing smoke up our @**'s. This is like the 2nd huge Rose Wood bust in a month.
http://news.mongabay.com/2014/0603-singpore-madagascar-rosewood-bust.html

Carl

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

Jeremey read the link below. I think the guy who promised more conservation was blowing smoke up our @**'s. This is like the 2nd huge Rose Wood bust in a month.
http://news.mongabay.com/2014/0603-singpore-madagascar-rosewood-bust.html

Carl

Carl

Hery Rajaonarimampianina is with his credentials supposed to be more of a business man. Hery has got to show more control of the situation especially this lack of integrity in the government. However if Madagascar keeps going down this path he is endorsing a path and practices that is neither sustainable, intelligent or smart. Hery has got a huge amount of foreign aid that he is receiving from other nations. If he keeps this kind of leadership up it would not surprise me if it is significantly reduced. Agriculturally speaking just hustling your Rosewood stock piles is not a plan that is built to last. Research and Development agriculture Rose Wood in Madagascar why are we not hearing about that?

These new quotas were done big and bold. However tropical Africa has had its problems since 2007 and if things do not stabilize a bit CITES could put these new 2014 quotas back to 0 quotas again. Even though I would hate to watch that happen again. I actually would have approved with just Calumma brevicornis, Calumma nasuta, Calumma boettgeri, Calumma gastrotaenia, and Farm Raised Orange Eyes Calumma parsonii parsonii. Hery show all of us something special!!! We want positive news from MADAGASCAR not more problems!!!!

Best Regards
Jeremy A. Rich

 

[laurie]

This is just sad. The people of Madagascar destroying the land to eat is one thing, but destroying the country for just plain money is back to business as usual. I hope this is stopped while there is still time for the forest recover. But it will never be back to where it was. My faith in the new government is dropping fast.

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

This is just sad. The people of Madagascar destroying the land to eat is one thing, but destroying the country for just plain money is back to business as usual. I hope this is stopped while there is still time for the forest recover. But it will never be back to where it was. My faith in the new government is dropping fast.

Laurie

I think Madagascar can become a jewel in a list of conservation accomplishments. However this lack of integrity in the new administration is not inspiring.

Best Regards
Jeremy A. Rich

 

[CarlC]

The real problem lies in that there is a lack of punishment once caught. Last week again there was another Tortoise smuggler caught. This time they got caught with over 1000 Pyxis arachnoides by Customs in the Comoros. A week or two previous there was a huge tortoise bust at the airport in Tana. Did the customs officer in Tana who caught the suitcase full of tortoise's get a raise or promotion, most likely not.

The problems start at the top. The people in power need to clamp down.


Carl

 

[laurie]

The real problem lies in that there is a lack of punishment once caught. Last week again there was another Tortoise smuggler caught. This time they got caught with over 1000 Pyxis arachnoides by Customs in the Comoros. A week or two previous there was a huge tortoise bust at the airport in Tana. Did the customs officer in Tana who caught the suitcase full of tortoise's get a raise or promotion, most likely not.

The problems start at the top. The people in power need to clamp down.


Carl

Sounds a lot like how we do - or really don't , run our country.

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

The real problem lies in that there is a lack of punishment once caught. Last week again there was another Tortoise smuggler caught. This time they got caught with over 1000 Pyxis arachnoides by Customs in the Comoros. A week or two previous there was a huge tortoise bust at the airport in Tana. Did the customs officer in Tana who caught the suitcase full of tortoise's get a raise or promotion, most likely not.

The problems start at the top. The people in power need to clamp down.


Carl

Carl

As I stated the lack of integrity in the administration this early on is not inspiring. If wildlife exports continue with this lack of regulation and infrastructure (with no regard to CITES regulations) theoretically we could witness a situation similar to what was happening before the 1995 ban. With under the radar exports and a ban being put back into place. However I hope and think that is not going to happen. As I said if President Hery does not gain control of the situation the loss of much foreign add is a legitimate agenda. He was elected based on the articles that I had read because he received an education and has got business savvy in these studies. It sounds though that the Malagasy administration needs to clean house. We are going to keep tabs and in six month to a year have a look at how things are progressing.

Best Regards
Jeremy A. Rich