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High resolution images have been taken of the entire 226,657 square-mile island of Madagscar in a scheme designed to protect its unique natural heritage and safeguard its most endangered species

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Madagascar is regarded as a biodiversity hotspot and renowned for its variety of wildlife with 80 per cent of its 30,000 known species, from lemurs to brightly coloured chameleons, found nowhere else on the planet

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The international team involved in the unprecedented survey was led by conservation biologists at the University of California, Berkeley and included experts from both the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew and the Natural History Museum

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Using high-tech tools that had previously never been available they were able to analyse a huge range of 2,315 species from six major groups: lemurs, butterflies, frogs, geckos, ants and plants

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The blueprint produced could fundamentally change the way conservation priorities are mapped around the world

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Unlike most conservation projects which focus on a particular species the study used new techniques to identify the areas most important for saving the highest percentage of fauna and flora

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The task was made more difficult by the complex distribution patterns of the Indian Ocean island’s unique plants and animals, many of which do not overlap

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The team started with distribution, conservation and status data on all species in the six groups and then added data on habitat suitability from satellite images and several layers of climatic information

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The research showed that conserving the habitat of only one group excluded up to 50 per cent of rare species from other groups

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And giving priority to one group in any given area in Madagascar would exclude up to 39 per cent of all species

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The study has provided a map that highlights the areas and species most in need of protection

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The study has resulted in a conservation plan that will build on the 6.3 percent of the island’s land already under some form of natural reserve status, which currently protects some 70 percent of the species in the study