【Madagascar】Why buying a sapphire could kill this lemur

Editor’s Note

This report documents the illegal sapphire mining threatening Madagascar’s protected forests and the endangered indri lemur. Our team gained rare access to the mining sites within a national park.

Indri in a tree
Sapphire mining threatens the indri lemur species

Indris – the largest lemurs – are native to Madagascar but their existence is threatened by illegal mining.

Christian Parkinson on trek through the rainforest

Since late last year more than 40,000 miners have descended on the island.
Our team followed the miners and made the long trek into what is meant to be a protected zone.

Lemur
“Filmed and edited by Tony Smith. Additional filming by Chris Parkinson.”

Published 18 July 2017

lemur
Full article: View original |
⏰ Published on: July 18, 2017