In a land famed for its wealth of unique species, but also for the rapid degradation of its habitats, conservationists are intent on saving what they can. There is hope, they say, for the people and wildlife of Madagascar.
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Manampatrana is a hamlet in the eastern strip of Madagascar, the world's fourth-largest island which lies off the south-eastern coast of Africa. The village was once surrounded by the lushest of forests, but now only mountain tops and scattered patches of woodland remain. The rest has been cleared for subsistence crops. Across much of Madagascar it's the same story. Between 1.5 to 4.5 percent of its rainforest disappears each year, which means that half of its remaining woodland could be gone in the time it takes to raise a child.
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"When I was young, from our house we could hear the lemurs crying and making noises. Now it is very quiet. Before, the mountains were covered in forests and because of that there was an abundance of water. There were hundreds of small springs, but now most of those springs are dried out." Claude Ranaivojana |
Claude Ranaivojana is a merchant and farmer who lives in Manampatrana. Like many people in the region, he used to grow coffee, but the insecurity of the global market left a bitter taste in their mouths; whereas at one time they could buy sugar, salt, rice and even sardines on the proceeds, falling prices left them increasingly dependent on the seemingly ever-present abundance of the forests. "Because of this constant fluctuation in price, they are no longer secure and so they constantly go to the forest to find quick money," Claude explains. "Through the rainforest you can always get quick money to survive day by day."
About one tenth of Madagascar's virgin forest remains intact. These increasingly fragmented areas of densely woven vegetation are home to an astounding number of endemic species - plants and animals that are found nowhere else on Earth. Of this remaining forest, only about three percent is under protection in parks. The country's president has pledged to triple the amount of parkland by 2009, but of course, that will still leave the overwhelming majority unprotected.
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white-lipped tree frog |
spear-tail gecko |
Exciting encounters
Helping the government in its agonising decision-making process are scientists such as Achille Raselimanana, a Malagasy herpetologist who works for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in Madagascar. "What we would like to do is a biological inventory to record what kind of animals live in this area," he explains during a field-trip to the country's north-east.
In a two-week survey of an area the size of a city park, he and his colleagues found a wide variety of birds, bats, and small insect-eating mammals. They also spotted one of the world's rarest mammals - a hairy-eared dwarf lemur - while Dr Raselimanana himself found 28 species of amphibians and 33 species of reptiles, including a spiny green chameleon: "To find a chameleon like this is very exciting. That's the reason I'm always in the forest if I have time," he smiles.
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Dr Achille Raselimanana on one of his expeditions |
Scientific discoveries
This expedition was organised by Dr Steve Goodman, a bird and small mammal expert who's been involved with about 200 such surveys, many with funds from the Washington DC-based WWF. He recalls another trip where a herpetologist captured at least two animals that were new to science, and a return journey three years later to photograph them for several publications:
"These papers were associated with species new to science, but probably it was a description of extinct organisms. The forest had disappeared. It was cut for slash and burn agriculture."
Back in Manampatrana, Claude wants to save the forests by making cultivated land more profitable and productive for longer, thereby reducing the need to clear fresh parcels of trees for farmland. Instead of planting crops with tubers that grow underground so the soil is disturbed by harvesting, he's focusing on fruit crops such as pineapples and bananas whose produce is above ground. In this way, soil is less vulnerable to erosion and stays fertile for longer.Sustainable solutions
Encouraging such sustainable practices is the aim of conservation projects such as one run by agriculture expert Mark Freudenberger, with funds from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
"What we're seeing today is the ecological impact of the incorporation of Madagascar into the international economy, he says. "So what we're doing now is focusing more on how to create market incentives for practising sustainable agriculture." Like an investment portfolio containing different stocks, he thinks a diverse suite of crops could also help Malagasy farmers to overcome the vagaries of the market.
Madagascar has recently become more open to outsiders offering such assistance, and ecotourism also holds the promise of alternative sources of income for the local populace. But to attract ecotourists Madagascar must maintain the forests which shelter the rare and beautiful creatures they come to see. Achieving this will require a dramatic change of heart, biologists warn. They say the island's primaeval habitats must no longer be seen as a source of land and lumber, but as the Ark for preserving one of evolution's most precious gems.
Tags: Achille Raselimanana, chameleon, conservation, Daniel Grossman, lemurs, Madagascar, wildlife, WWF