Madagascar
Background
Madagascar has been a research focus at RBG Kew since 1986, and we have enjoyed an excellent working relationship with partner institutions in Madagascar since that time. In June 1989, RBG Kew Herbarium signed a formal Memorandum of Understanding with Le Parc Botanique et Zoologique de Tsimbazaza (PBZT), the University of Antananarivo and the Association Nationale pour la Gestion des Aires Protégées (ANGAP). Since that agreement was implemented, RBG Kew has developed collaborations with many other partners, including working with the Silo National des Graines Forestières (SNGF) to establish a national seed collection, with Missouri Botanical Garden (MBG) to produce the new vegetation atlas and with ANGAP, Antsokay Arboretum and Centre Technique Horticole d’Antananarivo (CTHA) for the conservation of critically endangered species. RBG Kew has made a major contribution towards the better understanding of the flora, including five key publications: the vegetation atlas with innovative web-based data exchange and exhaustive treatments of the palms, orchids, legumes and tree genera of Madagascar.