Madagascar is a biological treasure trove. According to Conservation International, the Indian Ocean island has ‘an astounding eight plant families, five bird families, and five primate families that live nowhere else on Earth’. Eighty-five per cent of its species are unique to the island.
The island is less known for the vast tar sands deposits beneath two-thirds of its surface. Bitumen and heavy oil deposits in the arid Melaky region of northwestern Madagascar cover nearly 30,000 square kilometres and contain an estimated 25 billion barrels of recoverable oil. Major petroleum companies are itching to get their hands on the stuff. It could become the largest tar sands project outside Alberta, Canada.
