Madagascar lemurs and forests decimated by gangs

New Scientist reports on the rampant bush meat and illegal logging trades currently happening in Madagascar.

This African island's legendary lemurs and other animals as well as its forests are under threat by loggers and poachers after a March coup that ousted the former president reports the magazine.

In August, Conservation International reported that 15 bushmeat traders, contracted by a restaurant, were arrested carrying hundreds of endangered lemurs, which had been killed and roasted. "This happened in one of the country's best managed parks," says Edward Louis, a conservation biologist at the Omaha Zoo, who has been working in Madagascar for a decade. "If it's happening there, I can't begin to imagine what is happening elsewhere."

Read the full story: Madagascar biodiversity under threat as gangs run wild

Photo from Madagasikara Voakajy a capacity building project

Six global conservation efforts

The Christian Science Monitor reports on six conservation efforts around the world and most in popular travel spots:

Costa Rica: has protected 1/4 of its land.

The Philippines: home-grown conservation is stemming rampant deforestation and illegal poaching.

Vancouver Island: reintroduction of sea otters has created new problems of sea urchin and abalone decline.

Florida Everglades: might never recover due to destructive non-native species.

Congo, Rwanda, Uganda: Mountain gorillas now with a 14 percent population increase live in the shared borders of all three countries and have survived civil war and poaching.

Madagascar: Deforestation and poverty is destroying habitats of native species such as the lemur (picture above) but carbon offset trading could save the forests that are now being bought by companies such as Dell and turned over to international conservation organizations.

Read the full story: Where they rebuild nature

Is ecotourism solution for Madagascar

The island nation of Madagascar is slowly becoming an eco-travel destination. Tourists come to see animals such as the lemur that can only been seen there. But because the country is poor and developing, environmental damage consisting of major forest clear-cutting for rice farming and survival is a major problem that is threatening the few remaining areas of natural forests. Current TV's Adam Yamaguchi traveled to this island and reports on the hope of eco-tourism among a few other measures to help save what's left of the island's environment: