Madagascar
Described as a crown jewel among earth's ecosystems, this 1,000-mi long (1,610-km) island-continent is a microcosm of Third World ecological problems. It abounds with unique species which are being threatened by the exploding human population. Many scientists consider Madagascar the world's foremost conservation priority. Since 1984 united efforts have sought to slow the island's deterioration, hopefully providing a model for treating other problem areas.
Madagascar is the world's fourth largest island, with a rain forest climate in the east, deciduous forest in the west, and thorn scrub in the south. Its Malagasy people are descended from African and Indonesian seafarers who arrived about 1,500 years ago. Most farm the land using ecologically devastating slash and burn agriculture which has turned Madagascar into the most severely eroded land on earth. It has been described as an island with the shape, color, and fertility of a brick; second growth forest does not do well.
Having been separated from Africa for 160 million years, this unique land was sufficiently isolated during the last 40 million years to become a laboratory of evolution. There are 160,000 unique species, mostly in the rapidly disappearing eastern rain forests. These include 65 percent of its plants, half of its birds, and all of its reptiles and mammals. Sixty percent of the earth's chameleons live here. Lemurs, displaced elsewhere by monkeys, have evolved into 26 species. Whereas Africa has only one species of baobab tree, Madagascar has six, and one is termite resistant. The thorn scrub abounds with potentially useful poisons evolved for plant defense. One species of periwinkle provides a substance effective in the treatment of childhood (lymphocytic) leukemia.
Humans have been responsible for the loss of 93 percent of tropical forest and two-thirds of rain forest. Four-fifths of the land is now barren as the result of habitat destruction set in motion by the exploding human population (3.2 percent growth per year). Although nature reserves date from 1927, few Malagasy have ever experienced their island's biological wonders; urbanites disdain the bush, and peasants are driven by hunger. If they can see Madagascar's rich ecosystems first hand, it may engender respect which, in turn, may encourage understanding and protection.
The people are awakening to their loss and the impact this may have on all Madagascar's inhabitants. Pride in their island's unique biodiversity is growing. The World Bank has provided $90 million to develop and implement a 15-year Environmental Action Plan. One private preserve in the south is doing well and many other possibilities exist for the development of ecotourism. If population growth can be controlled, and high yield farming replaces slash and burn agriculture, there is yet hope for preserving the diversity and uniqueness of Madagascar.
Deforestation; Erosion; Tropical Rain Forest
Resources
Books
Attenborough, D. Bridge to the Past: Animals and People of Madagascar. New York: Harper, 1962.
Harcourt, C., and J. Thornback. Lemurs of Madagascar and the Comoros: The IUCN Red Data Book. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN, 1990.
Jenkins, M. D. Madagascar: An Environmental Profile. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN, 1987.
Periodicals
Jolly, A. "Madagascar: A World Apart." National Geographic 171 (February 1987): 148–83.
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