A catastrophic august for Madagascar

(cc) Bob.Fornal on flickr

I hardly can stay muted for what’s happening in my country now. We all know Madagascar is going through a political crisis but that’s not the point of this post.

Being a blog promoting Madagascar as a tourism destination, it’s a bit hard to report the following although I think it’s the essence of a blog to talk about both sides of the coin.

1- lemurs as exotic meals in the north of Madagascar
Madagascar is well known for its lemurs. You probably find them cute, and you are not the only one. Madagascar being the host for all the lemur species, it is horrible to discover that not only are those lemur engandered species, but some unconscious and *** people are eating them. The Conservation International has released shocking pictures taken from the north part of Madagascar revealing this horrible trade whereby lemurs are served as exotic meals in some of the restaurants in this part of the island. Shocking, unacceptable.

2- 70 % Foulpointe AKA Mahavelona wracked by fire
Foulpointe is situated in the north coast of Madagascar and is one of the places where locals and international tourists go in order to appreciate it’s coral-reef protected lagoon. August is the peak season for local tourism in this part of the island, and ironically a barbecue party turned out to be a fire that erased 70% of this town (where it usually rains, and where the sea is hundreds of meters away from the devastated part).The beach part of the town itself is still untouched and people from this part of the island still ask tourists to come. Don’t let this touristic place down.

3- rare ducks: from 19 to 6 left of the madagascar pochard: the world’s rarest duck and possibly the world’s rarest bird
After being considered as definitely lost, some researchers has rediscovered this pochard duck few years ago in Madagascar. Nonetheless, news from conservationists is alerting as quoted here
“Conservationists have become increasingly concerned for the plight of the Madagascar pochard, the world’s rarest duck and possibly the world’s rarest bird, following the discovery of only six females during a recent expedition to the country.” . It seems that the number of identified pochard duck is decreasing (less than the number of your fingers)… This situation is alarming.

4- oilspill risk the Gulser Ana Turkish freighter sank in Cape St. Mary
As if the disasters and human unconsciousness ain’t enough, news reported that a turkish freighter sanked on the coast of Cap Sainte Marie in the south of Madagascar and there is a risk of marine pollution in this corner of the island.
Considering the report of a 2001 issue the same Gulser Ana had in Belfast on october 2001 whereby it is stated “the release mechanism was poorly maintained, the locking pin was missing, and the crew had little information or understanding of its operation”- I do really hope the Gulser Ana’s owner has reviewed the freight’s security meanwhile and that the risks of pollution in the south of Madagascar be mitigated.

Tough times, big challenges for Madagascar. Any way you can find to sort it out?

© 2009, Madafan.com: Discover Madagascar. This post was originally posted/or syndicated from http://www.madafan.com