Dispatches From The Field

20 May 2003 -- Greetings from Madagascar

Greetings from Madagascar and welcome to our expedition webpage!

The rest of our team from the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University will be arriving in Madagascar over the next few weeks. I'm Luke Dollar, the team leader and expedition coordinator. I've been working in Madagascar since 1994 and am working on my PhD in Ecology at Duke. I'm here in Antananarivo (Madagascar's capitol city) now, making the final preparations for our expeditions. Although we'll be traveling to multiple sites around the country, most of our work will be concentrated in Ankarafantsika National Park. Ankarafantsika is Madagascar's largest remaining tract of contiguous dry, deciduous forest.

If you know anything about Madagascar, it is that it's the "land of lemurs." Those cute furry primates are found in forests all around the country. We'll be seeing quite a few of them up close. You'll be right there with us. Some are active during the day, some at night. There are more than 30 species total. That sounds like a great diversity. It is. Madagascar is one of the biologically richest places on Earth.

When we take a step back and look at Madagascar's recent biological history, however, we see that the picture is a bit more grim than at first glance. Madagascar has less than 10% of its original forest cover. The vast majority of it has been lost in the last century. More than 30 lemur species sounds like a lot; but 2000 years ago there were more than twice that number. The case is similar for the other animals and plants on Madagascar. This loss, combined with the fact that most of the flora and fauna of Madagascar are found nowhere else on Earth, has placed Madagascar at the top of the world's biodiversity conservation priority lists. It is among the hottest of the hotspots. That's why we're here.

We're working to bridge the gap between science and conservation. In a place like this, there's not much time left to get it right. In days to come, you'll hear more and more from us about our conservation, research, and development projects. You'll meet the Malagasy and foreign members of our team and see photos or video of our adventures and discoveries in almost real-time. I look forward to you joining us on our expeditions and studies. Keep checking with us, you never know what will happen next!

Best wishes,
Luke Dollar