Lemurs lose a lot of habitat because the people of Madagascar cut it down to expand their land. You may think, "that's not nice"!

But they have no choice but to expand. This is because they need to grow more food to survive and find more space for the community. The people of Madagascar have no choice but to do this. By the year 2000 40-50% of the forest that had been there in 1950 was cut down.

Madagascar's  forests are being cut down for lumber, farmland and village expansion. Sadly land cut down for farmland is not very fertile and the crops do not grow well, thus this is a big waste.

It is believed that 80-90% of Madagascar's forests were been cut down by 1980.

Madagascar is one of the world 49 least developed nations. The average income in Madagascar is 45 cents a day. Most students in Madagascar do not have a desk or chair.  Madagascar has a high child mortality rate because they are so undeveloped.

We can help the people in many ways. Giving money will not do because the person is temporarily okay but then they spend the money. We can help helping set up ecotourism. Ecotourism is when people preserve a place so that others can come and pay to see the ecosystem and wildlife. This will protect Madagascar's forests and help keep the people well. Madagascar is working toward ecotourism. if it get's going it will probably be very successful. This will be successful on Madagascar because Madagascar is full of amazing plants and animals.

There are around 100 species of lemur and they take up 30-50% of Madagascar. 

If we help the people of Madagascar we will also help lemurs.

Sources:
http://www.africaw.com/madagascar-today-major-issues-and-challenges
http://mada.moreorless.net.au/problems/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deforestation_in_Madagascar
http://geography.about.com/od/locateplacesworldwide/a/ecotourism.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemur