Hopes of saving thousands of rare animal and plant species around the world from extinction have been increased by the development of a “conservation map”.

The mapping technique was used to identify wildlife hotspots in Madagascar, which has some of the rarest and most unusual creatures in the world.

Scientists from six countries worked together to develop a map pinpointing the areas on the island that most need to be protected to save the largest number of species from oblivion.

They assessed the habitat requirements of 2,315 species of wildlife from Madagascar, and decided that the same sort of conservation blueprint could be applied anywhere else in the world. A map produced by the researchers shows the wildlife hotspots on the island that contain the greatest variety of wildlife and the habitat types that are needed to support them in the long term.

Rare and threatened lemurs such as Perrier’s sifaka, Propithecus perrieri, a critically endangered species named last year among the world’s 25 most threatened primates, are among the creatures likely to benefit from the creation of the conservation map.

Other species living in the areas of Madagascar recommended as nature reserves were Boophis andohahela, a rare tree frog, and the critically endangered Coquerel’s sifaka, Propithecus verreauxi coquereli.

Lemurs, butterflies, frogs, ants, geckos and plants were assessed for the project, which is thought to be the most extensive and detailed analysis of conservation requirements yet.

So much data needed to be assessed during the survey that new computer software, made possible only by recent advances in computing, was created for the task. The animals and plants chosen for the mapping project, reported in the journal Science, had such broad habitat requirements that by saving them conservationists would be able to secure the future of many other species.

Madagascar covers 226,642 sq m (58,500 hectares) and is regarded as one of the most important wildlife hotspots in the world, with an estimated 80 per cent of all species on the island found nowhere else.

Professor Chris Thomas, of the University of York, was part of the team that devised the conservation mapping technique. He said: “It’s a major advance. It’s innovative, particularly in terms of the sheer number of species and the large geographic area that is included. It’s only recently become feasible in terms of computing capacity.”

Claire Kremen, of the University of California, Berkeley, said that the mapping system provided an invaluable tool to conservationists. “Preserving biodiversity in the midst of tremendous pressures, such as habitat destruction and global warming, is one of humanity’s greatest environmental challenges in the 21st century.”

“Never before have biologists and policymakers had the tools that allow analysis of such a broad range of species, at such fine scale, over this large a geographic area.

“Conservation planning has historically focused on protecting one species or one group of species at a time, but in our race to beat species extinction that one-taxon approach is not going to be quick enough.”

Madagascar, despite being a developing country, has already classified 6.3 per cent of its land as protected. President Ravalomanana pledged in 2003 to raise this figure to 10 per cent.

Professor Brian Fisher, of the California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, said: “We are the first generation to understand the impending demise of natural habitats and we are the last generation that will have the ability to do something meaningful about it. This study is unique in including a wide breadth of animals and plants in its conservation analysis. This type of multi-taxon analysis will be critical to our efforts to preserve biodiversity for future generations.”

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