Press Release

Kew scientists help create first multi-taxonomic Madagascar conservation map

Scientists from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (RBG Kew) are part of an international team that has developed a remarkable multi-taxonomic road map for finding and protecting the best remaining habitats of thousands of rare species that live only in Madagascar. The results – which are not just good news for Madagascar as they have the potential to fundamentally change the way conservation priorities are mapped around the world – are described in the 11 April 2008 issue of the journal Science.

In their conservation plan, the researchers, led by conservation biologists at the University of California, Berkeley, included the Indian Ocean island’s most well-known inhabitants, lemurs, as well as species of ants, butterflies, frogs, geckos and plants. RBG Kew scientists Dr Henk Beentje and Dr John Dransfield provided a palm dataset to the Berkeley team. Between them Beentje and Dransfield have over 12 years experience working with Madagascan palms and are co-authors of the authoritative book, The Palms of Madagascar, as well as the more recent Field guide to the Palms of Madagascar.

More than 2,300 Malagasy species – including 175 palms, many of them increasingly rare – were included in the study. The sheer quantity of data being analysed by the UC Berkeley team was unprecedented and only made possible by software specifically designed for the project. Never before have biologists had the tools that allow analysis of such a broad range of species, at such fine scale and over such a large geographic area. It raises the bar on what's possible in conservation planning.

Dr Henk Beentje, head of the Drylands Africa section at RBG Kew, says, “John and I spent much time in the field in Madagascar to study the palms of this fantastic island. We were amazed when we had to describe seventy new palm species! Madagascar is truly a very special place. To have our data incorporated in a multi-taxonomic approach like this one is brilliant, because to try and help the Madagascar Government to protect the most important areas is exactly what we set out to do – and this is the most efficient way to do it."

He adds, “A fascinating outcome of this work has been that working with 'flagship species' is not enough. To preserve the richest areas, you really have to work with data for as many species as possible – and that can only be done through wide international cooperation.”

Claire Kremen, assistant professor of conservation biology at UC Berkeley and the project’s co-lead researcher says, "Conservation planning has historically focused on protecting one species or one group of species at a time, but in our race to beat species extinction, that one-taxon approach is not going to be quick enough."

Based upon this work, some surprising areas emerged as conservation priorities, including coastal forests and central mountain ranges, which had large concentrations of endemic species. Such regions, the researchers noted, have historically been neglected in favour of large tracts of forest.

In October 2007 RBG, Kew published the Atlas of the Vegetation of Madagascar, which also supports the efforts of the Madagascan Government to protect their natural areas.

Ends

Further Information

Dr Henk Beentje is available for interview to talk about RBG Kew’s involvement in the project. Please contact Bronwyn Friedlander, Anna Quenby or Catherine Owen in the RBG Kew Press Office. Telephone: 020 8332 5607, e-mail: pr@kew.org.

For all other queries contact Claire Kremen or Alison Cameron at UC Berkeley. Claire Kremen can be reached at (510) 643-6339 or ckremen@nature.berkeley.edu. On April 11, Kremen will not have e-mail access, but can be reached by mobile at (609) 915-3739, or at (209) 375-6666, ext.10B (listed under Irwin Kremen). To contact Alison Cameron, call her mobile (609) 529-5834, or e-mail her at acameron@nature.berkeley.edu.

Images are available to the media at
ftp://MadGuest:salama@128.32.85.73
User name = MadGuest
Password = salama
And the information for these images is available at
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pv4TZgrq-TyU6AqJ48n8ZRg&hl=en

Dr Henk Beentje is co-author, with John Dransfield, of Field guide to the Palms of Madagascar and The Palms of Madagascar. He has worked in Madagascar for several years and is currently head of the Drylands Africa section at the RBG, Kew.

Dr John Dransfield is a world expert on the systematics and uses of palms and has wide field experience, including in Madagascar. From 1975 to 2005 he was head of palm research at the RBG, Kew and he is the author of many publications on palms.

The multi-taxonomic map described in Science is not the first time RBG Kew has been involved in mapping Madagascar. In 2007 RBG Kew and its partners produced the first vegetation atlas of Madagascar. It is unique in Madagascar in that it provides a modern twist, using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to supply information that can be used to protect and manage Madagascar's diverse flora in a sustainable way.

This pioneering atlas warned that only 18 percent of Madagascar's native vegetation remains intact and that a third of Madagascar’s primary vegetation has disappeared since the 1970s. It provides an insight into which type of primary vegetation is rarest, which is currently disappearing fastest and which needs to be protected.

Earlier this year Kew’s Atlas of the Vegetation of Madagascar was presented to the president of Madagascar, Marc Ravalomanana, by a delegation from RBG Kew.

Atlas of the Vegetation of Madagascar Vegetation / Atlas de la Vegetation de Madagascar
Authors: Justin Moat and Paul Smith
Imprint: Kew Publishing
Specification: 420 x 297mm, hardback
Page extent: 124 pp with text in English and French, 36 full colour A3 maps, and over 100 colour photographs.
Publication date: October 2007
Price: £80.00
ISBN: 978 1 84246 198 3

To find out more about RBG Kew Publications go to our on-line bookshop at www.kewbooks.com

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