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Inadequate food supply for locals, insufficient infrastructure for workers within the ministry has largely been responsible for affecting Madagascar’s wildlife and its natural resources, said a senior environment protection official ahead of the World Wildlife Day, which falls on Thursday. Being an isolated island separated from the African continent, Madagascar is full of native or unique species, and has won the nickname of the world's "eighth continent." Ralava Beboarimisa, Madagascar's Minister of Environment, Ecology, Sea and Forests, threw some light on the country’s dilemma in protecting wildlife during an exclusive interview with China Central Television (CCTV). "I think the main difficulties are related to poverty, because as you know, some of the people are going inside the protected areas, some people who are living around the countries are practicing the bush fire. We are facing also the problem of bush meat, because they are in lack of protein. So they are trying to kill lemurs, or turtles or some endangered species in Madagascar, because they are poor," said Beboarimisa. Some 80 percent of the country's population relies on agriculture since the country has a weak industrial base and high unemployment rate. Due to poverty, some people in the country’s northern part tend to hunt down animals, such as lemurs, for food. According to Beboarimisa, one of the challenges is how to cope with the food security in Madagascar. He said, “If we are not having food security strategies, we cannot say to these people ‘don’t go inside the protected areas, don’t cut the wood, don’t burn the forests’....” The locals are practicing these habits because they are devoid of adequate sources of food and they are constantly trying to find ways to fight against poverty, said Beboarimisa. Inadequate funding to support the administration and wildlife protection services also makes it difficult to protect the natural resources, he said. Within the administration itself, there’s lack of logistics, such as cars or bikes. In addition, those who dedicate their time in working for the national parks are also devoid of sufficient materials to work with. "In Madagascar, for me, the challenge is how to give these for the people working within the ministry,” Beboarimisa said. The minister added his country is eager to seek international partners and cooperation to help them solve the problem and better protect the valuable resources in the country. More on: http://cctvplus.tv/NewJsp/news.jsp?fileId=344407 Subscribe us on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmv5DbNpxH8X2eQxJBqEjKQ CCTV+ official website: http://newscontent.cctv.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cctv-news-content? Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/CCTV/756877521031964 Twitter: https://twitter.com/NewsContentPLUS