. The Conservation Atlas of Tropical Forests: Africa. Madagascar none remaining on the east coast. However, on the source map for mangroves (see Map Legend on p. 229), most of the east coast was obscured by cloud. The mangroves in Madagascar are floristically more diverse than those in continental Africa. Six plant genera are widespread within the mangrove areas: Rhizophora, Bnigmera, Ceriops, Avicemua, Sonneratia, and Carapa (SECA/CML, 1987). The mangroves are important for inshore fisheries, serving as nursery areas for many species of fish and Crustacea. They are also resting and nesting ar
. The Conservation Atlas of Tropical Forests: Africa. Madagascar none remaining on the east coast. However, on the source map for mangroves (see Map Legend on p. 229), most of the east coast was obscured by cloud. The mangroves in Madagascar are floristically more diverse than those in continental Africa. Six plant genera are widespread within the mangrove areas: Rhizophora, Bnigmera, Ceriops, Avicemua, Sonneratia, and Carapa (SECA/CML, 1987). The mangroves are important for inshore fisheries, serving as nursery areas for many species of fish and Crustacea. They are also resting and nesting areas for a number of bird species including the Madagascar fish eagle Haliaeeius vocijeroides and the swift tern Sterna bergii (Nicoll and Langrand, 1989). The largest of Madagascar's fruit bats, Pteropus nifus, forms large colonies within the mangroves. Madagascar's mangroves, unlike those of mainland Africa, are not at present exploited to any great extent (SECA/CML, 1987; Nicoll and Langrand, 1989). The greatest threat is that they are becoming silted-up as the extensive inland erosion is resulting in large quantities of soil being carried down the rivers into the man- groves. A shortage of fuelwood may mean that the mangroves are cut for this purpose, especially in areas of moderate to high popu- lation density. None of the mangrove sites is protected. Forest Resources and Management Even now, there are no accurate figures for the extent of surviving tree cover in Madagascar, though it is usually said that approxi- mately 20 per cent of the island is covered with forest. This is the figure estimated by Guichon (1960), based chiefly on aerial sur- veys made in the late 1940s. Chauvet (1972), deriving his figures from Guichon's work, calculated that there were 61,500 sq. km of 'eastern type' forest remaining at that time. In 1981, FAOAJNEP gave a figure of 69,550 sq. km of forest left in the east and Sambirano region. The much higher figure given by FAO (1988) of 103,00 sq. km
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