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No endangered biodiversity can be saved without urgent and adequate conservation actions. However without awareness and education these actions cannot be sustained in the long term. During a survey carried out through the MWF/RARE project in 2008, it was found that 97% of the population using and visiting conservation areas, where unique and endangered reptiles live, had no knowledge of their existence, or their importance in the local ecosystem. Therefore, the reptiles were also threatened by direct human behaviour such as littering and barbecuing. Data Communications ltd has been supporting MWF during recent years, helping to raise awareness about the local wildlife. In 2008 and 2009 calendars were made depicting endemic birds and plants, and for 2010 the calendar is dedicated to the indigenous reptiles. Today many of the reptile species now only exist in small populations in fragmented forest habitats or are restricted to one or a few offshore islets. The reptiles are of particular interest to the conservation of our ecosystem as they play an important role in the propagation and pollination of our endemic plants and are themselves food for other endemic reptiles and also birds. It is hoped that these calendars, which are illustrated with beautiful photographs of local flora and fauna, will increase awareness of the very special biodiversity of Mauritius.
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