Madagascar: Forests, Woodlands, and Key Biodiversity Areas

One of the major knowledge gaps facing conservationists and policy makers has been the lack of reliable information about ecosystem health and rates of landscape change in both terrestrial and marine environments. The mission of the Center for Applied Biodiversity Science’s Regional Analysis Program at Conservation International is to use satellite, aerial, and field observations to characterize and monitor the impacts of human activities on biodiversity in the hot spots. Integrating this new generation of space and airborne remote-sensing instrumentation with comprehensive databases on social, economic, political, and legal factors enables better understanding of the relationships between the biophysical environment and patterns of human use.

Key biodiversity areas are places of international importance for conservation via protected areas and other governance mechanisms. They are identified nationally using simple standard criteria, based on their importance in maintaining populations of species. Key biodiversity areas are the building blocks for designing the ecosystem approach and maintaining effective ecological networks—the starting point for landscape-level conservation planning.

Courtesy of Conservation International.