Plant and animal life in Madagascar?

Answer 1

Much of the island was once covered with evergreen and deciduous forest, but little now remains except on the eastern escarpment and in scattered pockets in the west. The plateau is particularly denuded and suffers seriously from erosion. The forest has been cut in order to clear rice fields, to obtain fuel and building materials, and to export valuable timber such as ebony, rosewood, and sandalwood. About seven eighths of the island is covered with prairie grasses and bamboo or small thin trees. There also are screw pines, palms, and reeds on the coasts