Research by Missouri Botanical Garden scientists who identified the biological importance of Montagne des Français – a rocky area on Madagascar ’s northern tip rich in highly diverse and unusual plants and animals – has convinced the Malagasy government to grant it Temporary Protected Area status. This completes the first of three steps necessary to create a permanent protected area through the efforts of the International Cooperative Biodiversity Group (ICBG), a partnership that includes the Botanical Garden.
The ICBG’s Madagascar program aims to discover new natural products that could be developed as pharmaceuticals or agro-chemicals in a manner that promotes both conservation and economic progress in the island nation off the southeast coast of Africa.
The Madagascar-ICBG is a partnership of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, the Missouri Botanical Garden, Conservation International, Esai Research, Dow Agrosciences and three governmental research organizations in Madagascar.
In 2005 Missouri Botanical Garden botanists coordinated a conservation assessment of Montagne des Français that revealed large areas of natural vegetation surviving in dry deciduous forests and rocky areas. Their research also revealed an alarming loss of natural habitats. Researchers found 215 species of higher plants, five primates, 12 small mammals, 56 bird species, 40 reptile species and 19 amphibian species.