Malagasy amphibians: competing drivers and their impacts on conservation progress

Carpenter, Angus I. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0262-9895 (2025) Malagasy amphibians: competing drivers and their impacts on conservation progress. British Herpetological Society Reports, 5 . pp. 17-22. Item availability may be restricted.

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Abstract

Setting the scene:
Madagascar is one of the oldest and largest islands in the world and also one of the biologically richest places on earth (Goodman, 2022). However, Madagascar faces considerable conservation issues; for example, over 71% of its land has been converted to agriculture while over 71% of its population live below the poverty line (CIA, 2024). Madagascar’s human population size is predicted to approach 60 million by 2050 (UN, 2022) and extreme weather events, both droughts and cyclones that hit Madagascar are increasing in frequency and intensity resulting in deaths, displacement and insecurity. While severe localised food insecurity also resulted from the extreme weather events, and slow economic recovery, revenue from forest resources was 4.34% of national GDP (CIA, 2024). Furthermore, Madagascar’s political and institutional structures lack robustness in their ways of working, thus, leaving opportunities for illicit behaviours; for example, CITES (2024) requirement to suspend commercial trade of specimens of Diospyros spp. and Dalbergia spp. from Madagascar in 2022. Within country scenarios exacerbated these situations. For example, in 2020, Madagascar’s environment minister, Ms Raharinirina stated that Madagascar’s 144 protected areas (PAs) were a failure for conservation and that PAs needed to be more people-centric (Mongabay, 2020). While, in 2021, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) launched a program aimed at undermining illegal wildlife trafficking and the corruption that helps it flourish (USAID, 2021). Yet, in 2024 alone, Thailand itself returned nearly 1000 endangered lemurs and tortoises to Madagascar that had been confiscated from the illegal wildlife trade (BBC, 2024), highlighting how rife the illicit trade in fauna from Madagascar still remains.

Item Type:	Article
Journal / Publication Title:	British Herpetological Society Reports
Publisher:	British Herpetological Society
ISSN:	2633-996X
Departments:	Institute of Science and Environment > Forestry and Conservation Centre for National Parks and Protected Areas (CNPPA)
Additional Information:	Angus I. Carpenter, Lecturer in Ecology and Conservation, University of Cumbria, UK.
Depositing User:	Anna Lupton
Date Deposited:	10 Jun 2025 08:38
Last Modified:	20 Jun 2025 09:45
URI:	https://insight.cumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/8915