about by evolutionary processes”
– Dr Volker Sommer, UCL
Today's post follows on from Mondays in that it focuses on issues in Madagascar. Unfortunately, it's not quite so cheerful.
In my first post, I may have mentioned my dislike of people (whilst attempting to hold back the laughter) asking me if I saw any of the characters from the film Madagascar while I was there. My irritable responses come from the fact that I have been asked this question again and again, so whatever little originality was once attached to these comments has long since expired, secondly...it's not funny...and thirdly, Madagascar is nothing like the way Dreamworks have decided to portray it. This makes me mad because as long as people think that Madagascar is this beautiful unspoiled paradise, they will not feel anything needs changing there, or that organizations and conservation charities working there, can need much help. Don't get me wrong, I went to some wonderful, breathtaking places, but the truth is that the majority of Madagascar has been deforested or degraded since humans arrived between 200 and 500 BC. Since then 90% of Madagascar's forests have been destroyed, leading to desertification, water resources degradation and soil loss (not to mention of course habitat destruction causing the decline of hundreds of species unique to the island).
To illustrate this, let me show you a picture I took from the window of a taxi brousse on the way from Antananarivo (or Tana as the locals call it) - the capital city - to Ankarafa:
Although this is a stunning landscape, there is a distinct lack of trees, and this was the scene pretty much until we reached the forests of Ankarafa - that's a two day journey through the country, with the majority of the landscape filled with bare hills.
The reason for this deforestation comes from the need for firewood and also the process by which tavvy fields - fields used for the production of rice - are created. In order to clear the area to make room for tavvy fields, areas of forest are felled and then set fire to, in what is known as 'slash-and-burn' agriculture. This method of food production is unsustainable, as these areas can only be used for a limited time period, after which more areas must be cleared in order to make way for tavvy.
Although this occurs throughout Madagascar, I experienced it first hand in Sahamalaza, usually in fragments of forest some distance from the main camp and forest fragments of Ankarafa, where the lack of a research presence or local authority, leaves these illegal process uninterrupted.
The felling of the forest itself is a huge problem, as it has led to a dramatic change in climate in many parts of Madagascar over the recent decades, making areas much dryer and lacking in rain, then they used to be. The fires set to clear the land often spread further then may be intended resulting in large forest fires, which inevitably kill wildlife, and destroy habitats.
It's easy for us to look at these pictures and say that the people taking part in slash-and-burn activities are completely in the wrong, and legally speaking, when this occurs within the boundaries of a national park such as here in Sahamalaza that is correct. But often the local people use these methods because they are the traditional way in which to grow a crop, either to feed themselves and their families or to sell for profit. In this case, is it really right that we, as relatively wealthy, well provided for, westerners should tell them not to do this?
The answer to this, is yes. Of course we should, however, we should also provide the knowledge and practical skills which allow these people to undertake an alternative course of action.
Yesterday I went to the monthly conservation lecture that takes place at Bristol Zoo. This lecture was given by Josia Razafindramanana (the project coordinator for the Malagasy Primate working group), on making conservation effective. She told us about a project she was working on, due the discovery of a number of previously unknown populations of the crowned sifaka, outside of their known distribution range. Although these sifakas are beautiful creatures...
...it was the sustainable community and reforestation efforts, working in combination with other aspects of their conservation program that I feel is relevant to this post.
In the areas now protected due to the presence of these animals, the focus has been largely on getting local communities involved in using practical skills to aid conservation. Particularly, in terms of reforestation, they have implemented a scheme where families are given saplings for both forest trees, and fast growing trees. The families are then responsible for the survival of these saplings, and when they are ready, they plant the forest trees within the forest, and the fast growing trees in a separate area, where they will be ready for felling and using as fire wood in as little as five years.
The local communities were extremely happy with this plan, as it meant that not only would they have areas of wood allocated to use as fire wood in the future, but also they were replenishing the trees of the forest - the lack of which, most of these local communities now know, is what is causing the lack of rain, which of course, in turn leads to bad crop production. The program also showed them how to grow vegetable crops on what little land they already have, in order to negate the need to clear forest for tavvy, and how to create effective fire breaks (clearing areas of savannah grassland that burn easily, in order to prevent the spread of forest fires).
The point of this post therefore, is to to illustrate the huge problem of deforestation in Madagascar, which is mostly unknown within the general public (who envision green forests as far as the eye can see), and also to show that it is the application of practical education that may be the key to fighting the problem - as is the case with most conservation efforts.
If you give people the education to understand the problem, the practical skills to undertake an alternative, and the motivation to get involved, the chance of success is much higher then simply telling them what they can or cannot do.
Ellie x
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