Madagascar is an island in the Indian Ocean off the southeast coast of Africa. It is the fourth largest island country in the world and broke away from the African continent 165 million years ago. For this reason, 70% of Madagascar's 250,000 species of flora and fauna are unique to this island (Butler, 2007).
The island has a mountainous central plateau surrounded by coastal plains, allowing for a variety of ecosystems: tropical rainforests, dry forests, wetlands, coral reefs and many man-made communities (savanna, scublands, grasslands).
Butler, R., 2007. Madagascar [online]. Available at: