On the eve of 2010, International Year of Biodiversity, the National Museum of NaturalHistory and Pro-Natura International are working in partnership with the InternationalUnion for Conservation of Nature to launch “Our Planet Reviewed”, an unprecedentedprogramme of naturalist expeditions. 10 years to conduct a massive inventory ofbiodiversity in geographical areas which, up until now, have been little explored. Objective:to accelerate the scientific discovery of new species, by focusing our efforts on the regionsof the planet which are considered a priority in terms of nature conservation.

Between April 2009 and June 2010, Madagascar and Mozambique will host a series of expeditions on seaand land.

Under the leadership of Professor Philippe Bouchet (National Museum of Natural History) and Olivier Pascal(Pro-Natura International), these expeditions aim to develop existing knowledge of biodiversity in regionswhich are considered to be the richest in species, but which are also lesser known and the most threatenedon the planet.

Over 4 months of research in the field, around a hundred participants across all disciplines, from all aroundthe world and exceptional technical resources bear witness to the scale of this inventory project.These new expeditions will draw on the expertise acquired during Santo 2006, an inventory operation carriedout in the Vanuatu archipelago, in the heart of the South Pacific, which revealed several hundred new species.

Essentially dedicated to neglected biodiversity (marine and land invertebrates, plants and fungi), whichrepresents 95% of biodiversity and plays a fundamental role in the balance of ecosystems, the Mozambique/Madagascar project intends to return this field of research, all too often ignored in favour of large fauna(mammals, birds...), to its proper place and thereby encourage new conservation policies, which are no longersolely based on emblematic species.

“The Planet Reviewed”, raising collective awareness in the face of biodiversity issues
Disappearing habitats (forests, coral reefs...), overexploitation, pollution, climate change... there arenumerous causes for the disappearance of living things and the scale of the biodiversity crisis is now proven.The actual number of living species could be between 8 and 30 million, yet only 1.8 million are currentlyknown. A quarter, or even half, of these species could disappear from the planet by the middle or the end ofthis century; the issues at stake are therefore substantial and, now more than ever, it is time to start a newpattern of exploring and describing biodiversity.

The Mozambique/Madagascarexpeditions programme

Mozambique and Madagascar are home to an exceptionally richflora and fauna, which is still largely unknown, despite the attentionwhich has been accorded to Madagascar, in particular, by natureprotection organisations over a number of years. Therefore, it isnatural that these two large countries should form a strategic targetfor scientists.
Two sites, which have been identified as priority areas, will therefore formthe object of the explorations:

MOZAMBIQUE
November-December 2009
Land expedition in the dry forests of North Mozambique
Objective : to explore and describe terrestrial fauna and flora (insects,small mammals, plants...)

MADAGASCAR
April 2009
Marine expedition to the shrimp beds on board the oceanographyvessel Vizconde de Eza
Objective : to sample the deep aquatic fauna of the MozambiqueChannel

June-July 2009
Exploration on board the shrimp trawler Miriky
Objective : to sample the sea bed between 100 and 1000m depth in theNorth Mozambique Channel

April-June 2010
Atimo Vatae marine expedition in the cold water at the extreme Southof Madagascar (Fort Dauphin region)
Objective : to explore and describe marine fauna and flora (molluscs,fish, algae...)

A specific website for the project
The Museum has created a bilingual website (French/English) entirely dedicated to the project: www.laplaneterevisitee.org / www.ourplanetreviewed.org. This allows the public to follow the expeditions, take a look behind the scenes andshare the researchers’ day to day experience through photos, reports, interviews and much more…

An educational project
A new educational project based on the expedition has also been set up by the Museum’s teaching directorate for the 2009-2010 academic year. Designed for French-speaking teachers all around the world (French academies, the Indian Ocean...),a range of educational resources is offered free of charge to teachers on the project’s website. A competition will be heldfor classes involved in this project.

www.laplaneterevisitee.org / www.ourplanetreviewed.org

Major Sponsors:
> The Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation - www.fpa2.com
> The Total Foundation – www.fondation.total.com
> The Stavros Niarchos Foundation - www.snf.org

Press contacts:

Scientific and institutional partners:
Mozambique: The Mozambique Institute of Agricultural Research (IIAM); The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; The Montpellier Centre for Biology and PopulationManagement
Madagascar: The Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IOE); The University of Tulear Institute of Fisheries Research and Marine Science (IH.SM); WildlifeConservation Society (WCS) – Madagascar Program