The outcome of this negotiation will determine the survival of some of the island's 13,000 native flowering plants, 316 native reptiles, and 109 native birds. It will also decide whether scientists still have the opportunity to discover new species -- and whether millions of poor people can earn a living from Madagascar's vast ecological wealth.<=> The Andringitra National Park, which has been managed the last several years by WWF, is at the center of the country's longest unbroken forest, which stretches for 112 miles and varies between 5 and 40 miles wide. Scott Grenfell has helped plan and build the park for the last four years, and he and WWF will turn over control to Madagascar's national park service at the end of the year.

When Grenfell arrived, the park was a park in name only. Grenfell, 56, a Michigan native who has worked for three decades in parks from Arkansas to Malawi, set out with two main goals: build infrastructure for visitors and educate villagers about how they could benefit from the park while still protecting it. Since then, local crews have constructed 69 miles of hiking trails built with granite, much of them at high elevation, as well as five camping sites, a visitor's center and a guesthouse. He has helped train 26 nature guides and 350 porters.

In addition, he encouraged residents to bury their dead in the park. Ancestors are revered, consulted, and prayed to in Madagascar, and their place of burial becomes sacred land.

The tourists are beginning to come. In 1998, Andringitra registered 84 tourists; this year, they expect 3,000 -- still a tiny amount, an average of eight a day, but enough to begin to show local residents the benefits of ecotourism.

Some specialists say the Indian Ocean insulates Madagascar from southern Africa, where nine countries have double-digit rates of HIV prevalence, including two with nearly 40 percent prevalence among people ages 15 to 49. Some say another protective barrier is that nearly 100 percent of boys are circumcised before puberty; in many nations, circumcised men have a far lower rate of HIV than uncircumcised men. Others think that the AIDS epidemic is still relatively young in Madagascar or that the estimates are incorrect.<=> Madagascar faces a great risk for an increasing HIV epidemic because of its unusually high rates of sexually transmitted diseases, and because many adults acknowledge having sex with multiple partners. Yet the HIV prevalence rate in Madagascar was estimated at 1.7 percent at the end of last year, according to UNAIDS, extraordinarily low compared with southern Africa as a whole.

Some specialists say the Indian Ocean insulates Madagascar from southern Africa, where nine countries have double-digit rates of HIV prevalence, including two with nearly 40 percent prevalence among people ages 15 to 49. Some say another protective barrier is that nearly 100 percent of boys are circumcised before puberty; in many nations, circumcised men have a far lower rate of HIV than uncircumcised men. Others think that the AIDS epidemic is still relatively young in Madagascar or that the estimates are incorrect.<=> Madagascar faces a great risk for an increasing HIV epidemic because of its unusually high rates of sexually transmitted diseases, and because many adults acknowledge having sex with multiple partners. Yet the HIV prevalence rate in Madagascar was estimated at 1.7 percent at the end of last year, according to UNAIDS, extraordinarily low compared with southern Africa as a whole.

Some specialists say the Indian Ocean insulates Madagascar from southern Africa, where nine countries have double-digit rates of HIV prevalence, including two with nearly 40 percent prevalence among people ages 15 to 49. Some say another protective barrier is that nearly 100 percent of boys are circumcised before puberty; in many nations, circumcised men have a far lower rate of HIV than uncircumcised men. Others think that the AIDS epidemic is still relatively young in Madagascar or that the estimates are incorrect.

One program, funded by USAID and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and run by Population Services International, or PSI, has essentially created a network of youth-friendly health clinics in urban areas. Each doctor who joins the program receives training on how to treat STIs, as well as how to counsel teenagers and encourage them to get tested for HIV.<=> Madagascar has started initiatives to encourage young people to adopt safer behavior, educating them about HIV transmission and encouraging prompt treatment for STIs. President Ravalomanana has spoken out several times to warn people against the spread of the disease and has created a Cabinet-level department to fight AIDS.

One program, funded by USAID and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and run by Population Services International, or PSI, has essentially created a network of youth-friendly health clinics in urban areas. Each doctor who joins the program receives training on how to treat STIs, as well as how to counsel teenagers and encourage them to get tested for HIV.<=> Madagascar has started initiatives to encourage young people to adopt safer behavior, educating them about HIV transmission and encouraging prompt treatment for STIs. President Ravalomanana has spoken out several times to warn people against the spread of the disease and has created a Cabinet-level department to fight AIDS.

One program, funded by USAID and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and run by Population Services International, or PSI, has essentially created a network of youth-friendly health clinics in urban areas. Each doctor who joins the program receives training on how to treat STIs, as well as how to counsel teenagers and encourage them to get tested for HIV.