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Conservation efforts

Lemurs have drawn much attention to Madagascar and its endangered species. In this capacity, they act as flagship species, the most notable of which is the ring-tailed lemur, which is considered an icon of the country. The presence of lemurs in national parks helps drive ecotourism, which especially helps local communities living in the vicinity of the national parks, since it offers employment opportunities and the community receives half of the park entrance fees. In the case of Ranomafana National Park, job opportunities and other revenue from long-term research can rival that of ecotourism.

Starting in 1927, the Malagasy government has declared all lemurs as "protected" by establishing protected areas that are now classified under three categories: National Parks (Parcs Nationaux), Strict Nature Reserves (Réserves Naturelles Intégrales), and Special Reserves (Réserves Spéciales). There are currently 18 national parks, 5 strict nature reserves, and 22 special reserves, as well as several other small private reserves, such as Berenty Reserve and Sainte Luce Private Reserve, both near Fort Dauphin. All protected areas, excluding the private reserves, comprise approximately 3% of the land surface of Madagascar and are managed by Madagascar National Parks, formerly known as l'Association Nationale pour la Gestion des Aires Protégées (ANGAP), as well as other non-governmental organizations (NGOs), including Conservation International (CI), the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Most lemur species are covered by this network of protected areas, and a few species can be found in multiple parks or reserves.

Conservation is also facilitated by the Madagascar Fauna Group (MFG), an association of nearly 40 zoos and related organizations, including the Duke Lemur Center, the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, and the Saint Louis Zoological Park. This international NGO supports Madagascar's Parc Ivoloina, helps protect Betampona Reserve and other protected areas, and promotes field research, breeding programs, conservation planning, and education in zoos. One of their major projects involved the release of captive black-and-white ruffed lemurs, designed to help restock the dwindling population within Betampona Reserve.

Habitat corridors are needed for linking these protected areas so that small populations are not isolated. In September 2003 in Durban, South Africa, Madagascar's former president Marc Ravalomanana promised to triple the size of the island's protected areas in five years. This became known as the "Durban Vision". In June 2007, the World Heritage Committee included a sizable portion of Madagascar's eastern rainforests as a new UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Debt relief may help Madagascar protect its biodiversity. With the political crisis in 2009, illegal logging has proliferated and now threatens rainforests in the northeast, including its lemur inhabitants and the ecotourism that the local communities rely upon.

Captive lemur populations are maintained locally and outside of Madagascar in varied zoological conservatories and research centers, although the diversity of species is limited. Sikafas, for instance, do not survive well in captivity, so few facilities have them. The largest captive lemur population can be found at the Duke Lemur Center (DLC), whose mission includes non-invasive research, conservation (e.g. captive breeding), and public education. Another large lemur colony includes the Myakka City Lemur Reserve run by the Lemur Conservation Foundation (LCF), which also hosts lemur research. In Madagascar, Lemurs' Park is a free-range, private facility southwest of Antananarivo that exhibits lemurs for the public while also rehabilitating captive-born lemurs for reintroduction into the wild.