Deforestation In Madagascar Research Paper

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All over the world, deforestation is happening at an alarming rate, causing many harmful effects on the local environments it occurs in. The island nation of Madagascar has a major problem with deforestation. There are three significant factors in the current deforestation in Madagascar, slash and burn agriculture, commercial logging, and charcoal production. The slash and burn farming method is the main strategy for rice production in Madagascar. Rice farming is one of the main economic income sources for the country. Every year, nearly one third of the country is burned and then farmed over (1). This method of cutting down sections of the forest and burning the cut trees is not sustainable for the ecosystem of the area in the long term. The local soil can survive around fifteen years before it is completely depleted of its nutrients (1). Timber logging is also a serious problem concerning deforestation here. Malagasy hardwood trees like ebony and rosewood have a very high market value causing illegal logging to be a serious issue. Forests are also cut for the charcoal market as it is a simple source of income for local families (1). Deforestation in Madagascar has also led to an increase in…show more content…
Madagascar is one of the poorest countries in the world, and poverty stricken areas are extremely susceptible to corruption and illegal practices in terms of income and ecosystem exploitation. Creating national parks that are off limits to logging and farming etc. does not solve the problem. Many Malagasy people are heavily dependent on what the forest can provide. For any sustainable conservation effort to succeed in Madagascar, the economic needs of the people must be addressed as well as ecosystem protection (1). Programs must be designed to provide for both the people and the land, nether can take preference in this particular situation as a strong ecosystem essentially means a strong

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