Bad news from Madagascar

I mentioned the political unrest in Madagascar a couple of weeks ago because it caused one of my students to cancel her planned fieldwork on Erasanthe henrici this spring.(That's a photo of E. henrici to the left. Rather attractive, don't you think?) Since then the president (Ravalomanana) has been ousted by the former mayor of Antananarivo (Rajoelina), who is six years too young to serve as president according to the constitution. Rajoelina has suspended parliament, though he promises to hold new elections within two years. Over the last two days supporters of the former president have held protests in Antananarivo demanding that Ravalomanana be returned to office. Now they are threatening a tax boycott to ratchet up the pressure. It looks as if the situation is going to be unsettled for awhile.

And lawlessness is starting to spread to some of the national parks. Marojejy has been closed to tourism because of "the lawlessness that has descended over the ... region during this time of political unrest in Madagascar, and the resultant looting and destruction which is currently occurring within the park."

Both [Mireya] Mayor and [Patricia] Wright are also concerned about the long-term future of conservation in Madagascar.

Former President Ravalomanana had committed the Madagascan government to increasing protected areas on the island and had demonstrated a willingness to work with conservationists.

"Now," Mayor said, "we don't know what's going to happen.

Mayor has worked with primates in Marojejy, and Wright is a scientist and conservationist whose work focuses on Madagascar.