Madagascar: conference studies how to preserve nature on island

Touting itself as a destination of unmatched natural wonder, Madagascar is protecting its remaining environmental riches in hopes of gaining long-term benefit for its people.

Photo: Madagascar: conference studies how to preserve nature on island

The idea that pristine rain forests can be big business is the focus of a major international symposium on Africa that opens Tuesday in Antananarivo, the capital.

Organized by Conservation International, a Washington-based environmental group, the five-day conference of more than 400 delegates will examine how to use Africa's unmatched biodiversity to ease poverty and lay a foundation for sustainable development.

Protecting nature means safeguarding the cheapest and most effective source of clean water, food, natural resources and other benefits of ecosystem services, said Conservation International President Russell A. Mittermeier.

President Marc Ravalomanana announced 1 million hectares (2.47 million acres or 3,834 square miles) of new protected areas last December as part of his 2003 pledge to triple the island nation's total protected territory to 6 million hectares (14.82 million acres or 23,000 square miles) by 2008. At the Mantadia and Andasibe national parks three hours by road from Antananarivo, new hotels and a locally run guiding association help attract a tourism trade that has increased from 7,000 visitors in 1990 to 28,000 last year.