Madagascar is an island located in the Indian Ocean and the fourth largest island in the world.

Since its geographical isolation from the Indian subcontinent over 88 million years ago, Madagascar has evolved into an island of incredible biodiversity. 90% of the species found on Madagascar are endemic and are found nowhere else on earth.

Madagascar's primary forest is not only home to a uniquely diverse flora and fauna, but also the root of a natural and healthy ecosystem - the source of fresh air and a balanced climate.

As in many other parts of the world, Madagascar is experiencing a massive decrease of its forest. Over 90% of the primary forest has already been destroyed through:

 

Tavy or slash-and-burn agriculture 

Tavy is the traditional practice in malagasy agriculture. Tavy is mainly used to convert natural vegetation into rice fields. Usually, one or two hectares of forest are cleared, burnt and then planted with rice. After one or two years, the field is left fallow for 4-6 years before the process is repeated. After 2-3 such cycles, the nutrients in the soil are exhausted and the land is likely to be colonised by scrub or alien grasses. On slopes, the new vegetation is often insufficient to anchor the soil, leading to increased erosion and landslides. 

 

For many Malagasy, tavy is the most practical way to provide for their families. Due in part to the severe poverty that particularly affects the island's rural population, many families focus on daily food security, which makes it difficult to develop more ecologically sustainable methods of farming. Since many people, in view of their economic plight, are more concerned about today than thinking about the long-term consequences of their actions, the environmentally harmful traditional farming method of tavy continues to prevail. Moreover, rice cultivation also has spiritual and cultural meanings that go beyond the economic and nutritional value of rice as a crop. 

 

Logging for timber 

Logging is a particular problem in the rainforests of eastern Madagascar, especially on the Masoala peninsula. The high value of Malagasy hardwoods (especially ebony and rosewood, which are in high demand on international markets) makes illegal logging a significant problem in some protected areas. 

 

Logging generally does not lead directly to deforestation, but deteriorates the condition of the forests and increases the likelihood that they will be cleared for subsistence agriculture or other purposes in the future.

 

Firewood and charcoal production 

Madagascar's endemic spiny forests are being cleared for charcoal production at an alarming rate. To make a living selling charcoal, often in the form of small charcoal pyramids along the roads in south-western Madagascar, many of the producers turn to the nearest plant source, in this case often alluaudia trees in the area. 

To produce charcoal, the wood is charred, i.e. heated to high temperatures in a pile or kiln.

In Madagascar in particular, where more than three quarters of the total population live in extreme poverty and have no access to electricity, firewood is the only source available to ensure daily survival, especially in rural areas where those most affected by poverty live.

 

Malagasy households consume about 100 kg of charcoal per month and use this energy for cooking, heating and as a source of light.

 

Both practices, slash-and-burn and charcoal production, continuously consume large areas of primary forests in Madagascar. The high demand and the resulting great pressure on the Malagasy forest exceeds its capacity to regenerate from deforestation.

 

Deforestation in Madagascar and around the world is causing serious problems! Forest destruction is followed by erosion and landslides, water loss and soil quality degradation, the decline of biodiversity and the extinction of endemic species, as well as the increase of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere and the associated acceleration of global warming.