Country Profile
Formerly an independent kingdom,
Madagascar became a French colony in 1896, but
regained its independence in 1960. It has a coastline
of 4,828 and the coordinates are 20 00 S, 47 00
E.
Total Population: 19,448,815
(July 2007 est.)
Maritime claims: Territorial
Sea: 12 nm, Contiguous Zone: 24 nm Exclusive Economic
Zzone: 200 nm, Continental Shelf: 200 nm or 100
nm from the 2,500-m deep isobath
(Source CIA World Factbook:
Madagascar)
Latest News and Events in Madagascar
A self-destructing palm
tree
January
17th 2008
 A species of self-destructing palm trees
that flower once every 100 years and then
die has been discovered on Madagascar, botanists
said.
The name of the giant palm
and its remarkable life cycle is to be detailed
in the Botanical Journal of the Linnean
Society. The self-destructing palm tree
found on the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar,
flowers once every 100 years and then dies.
“It’s spectacular,” said Mijoro
Rakotoarinivo of the Royal Botanical Gardens in
Madagascar. “It does not flower for maybe 100
years and can be mistaken for other types of palm.
But then a large shoot grows out of the top and
starts to spread, a bit like a Christmas tree.”
Those branches then become covered
in hundreds of tiny white flowers that ooze with
nectar, attracting insects and birds. But the
effort of flowering and fruiting depletes the
tree so much, said John Dransfield, a botanist
and the author of the study, that within a few
months it collapses and dies. The palm tree, which
grows to 66 feet, is found only in a remote region
in the northwest of the country. Puzzling Mr.
Dransfield is how botanists had missed such a
”whopping palm” until now, adding that there appear
to be only about 100 in existence. He suggests
that the tree has been quietly living and dramatically
dying in Madagascar for 80 million years.
(Source: Associated Press)
Status Report
Draft National Status Report for
Madagascar.
French
[Part 1]
For more, please contact Ms. Chantal, the Focal Point for Madagascar
National Focal Points
The focal points institutions
have been supported to operationalise their offices
and to initiate a reporting mechanism for the
Convention by compiling national status reports
on the coastal and marine environment. Read
More..
The focal point for Madagascar
is:
 |
Ms. Chantal Andrianarivo
Point Focal de la Convention de Nairobi
Chef de Cellule Recherche et Biodiversité,
Association Nationale pour la Gestion des Aires
Protégées (ANGAP),
BP 1424 Antananarivo 101
Tel: (261) 20 22415 38/54,41883
Fax: (261) 20 22415 39
Email: val@angap.mg, chant_andri@yahoo.fr |
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