When I think of Madagascar, I always thought of beautiful lush rain forests and magnificent tropical animals... but today that would be incorrect. 

There was once international organizations and local groups alongside President Mark Ravalomanana to conserve 10% of the wildlife as parks that  brought in eco-tourism and slowed down the rate of deforestation and protected the magnificent biodiversity. But this crumbled to pieces after President Ravalomanana was exiled at gunpoint resulting in the conservation and management of the parks to fail, this lead to gangs raiding the forests for hardwoods, animals for the exotic pet trade etc.which frightened away visitors and eco-tourists who once brought in half of the Government's annual budget which fed into conservation and the local communities.

80% of the plant and animal species found on Madagascar are not found anywhere else in the world and there is still more to be discovered.From 1999 to 2010, scientists discovered 615 new species in Madagascar, including 41 mammals and 61 reptiles.

Silky Sifaka, a lemur, which is one of the rarest mammals on earth- only found in Madagascar-is being harvested and eaten by the locals or sold in the exotic pet trade. Another threatened species is the Ploughshare tortoise, a rare species only in a small area of northwestern Madagascar. Only 1,000 individuals currently exist.  These are also being sold illegally for up to $200,000 on exotic pet markets.

Overexploitation, rampant logging, agricultural fires, harvesting and the exotic pet trade are some of the many threats to Madagascar's beautiful wildlife and biodiversity. 

We need to send a message to the Government of Madagascar that their once successful, lucrative conservation schemes that protected their unique and superb wildlife need to be restored. It will bring back tourists to replace the blood-money from their illegal and heartbreaking exotic pet trade and over-harvesting with well deserved clean money.