Unit 3.3, exercise 2B, page 72.0:00
Tsingi bemeraja national park.0:11
Botanist Nick Lever talks about a scientific expedition to one of the world's most remote and biodiverse nature reserves.0:20
Botany may not be regarded by many as the most exciting of careers, but I can honestly say that I have never found it anything but enthralling.0:29
I have had the great fortune to travel virtually the entire world for my job looking for plant species which may prove useful to the pharmaceutical industry.0:37
Last year my research took me to Madagascar, one of the most beautiful and fascinating countries I have ever had the good fortune to visit.0:46
Madagascar is an island about the size of France, off the southeast coast of Africa.0:53
It is a biologist's dream because it is home to more than a quarter of a million species.0:58
What is more, an estimated 80% of these are found nowhere else on earth.1:03
With such a tremendous collection of species under its care, the Madagascar government has set aside about 50 areas of special interest as national parks.1:07
One of the most beautiful is the Tsingi Bemaraha national park, which is located in the northwest of the island.1:16
Tsingi consists of deciduous forest and mangrove swamps sitting on towering, jagged limestone rocks.1:22
Below ground, there is an enormous network of caves, rivers and streams.1:29
There are bird, reptile, lemur and frog species in the park which are not found anywhere else on the island.1:33
The Aye Aye, the world's largest nocturnal primate lives there too.1:39
It has a very odd appearance, luminous beady eyes and a very long middle finger on both its hands.1:44
It was in this truly incredible wildlife habitat that I gathered the majority of my plant samples.1:51
Getting to many of the plants in Tsingi can be a struggle because of the terrain.1:57
You have to be prepared to climb and scramble over this wonderful rocky landscape.2:01
The plants cling precariously to the sharp peaks and towering cliffs.2:06
Those on the tops of the rocks have had to adapt to extreme conditions, burning heat and long periods of drought.2:10
So they do not have leaves, but instead are covered in thorns which help them limit their water loss.2:16
To date, we botanists have counted roughly 650 plant species in Tsingi.2:22
Most of these have not been investigated, but research in laboratories like the one I work in will hopefully discover if any are of medicinal value.2:28
Madagascar is home to the rosy periwinkle, which is used to treat some cancers and also diabetes.2:37
I suspect there are many more Madagascar plants with potential disease curing properties.2:43
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