Madagascar

Madagascar is not as happy and chipper and the Dreamworks cartoon depicts. It is, in fact, a disappearing wonder of our world.

Madagascar is an island off the southeast coast of Africa. Much like the Everglades, Madagascar has a very unique ecosystem. This unique landscape provides a home to rare and unique animals. 

Much Like the Amazon, Deforestation and a growing population of people is causing the Madagascar forests to disappear at a rapid rate. 

A tradition in Madagascar is called Tavy. Tavy is when a family burns down a portion of rain forest to begin planting rice. This rice will provide for the family. Tavy is widely used in the island country, often considered one of the poorest countries in the world. 

According to PBS, about 80 percent of the population are subsistence farmers. At that rate it is now wonder the land forest is disappearing. Any time the survival of people hinge on the death of a forest, the forest does not stand a chance. 

In the 1980's however the Malagasy Government recognized the long-term dangers that tavy can cause to their rain forest. 

They created The National Environmental Action Plan. The project is designed to develop protected areas in order to save the unique wildlife that resides in Madagascar such as the red-ruffed lemur, only found on the Masoala Peninsula. The Masoala Peninsula is home to a 3000 square kilometer park, which protects the lemur and other rare species native to the island. 

                                          The Masoala Peninsula is home to the first major project of the                                                       National Environmental Action Plan. The project is aimed to                                                           protect precious forest land from farming and deforestation. (Picture                                             courtesy of http://www.domani.ch/masoala/en/index.html)

To make issues worse, there is political instability in Madagascar. In 2009, there was a coup to take over the existing government. Natascha Paddison, acting deputy representative for UNICEF, said, "Following the coup all aid to Madagascar was suspended. That is catastrophic for a country where foreign aid accounted for 70 percent of the national budget."

Sources:

http://www.livescience.com/29569-8-of-the-worlds-most-endangered-places.html

http://www.pbs.org/edens/madagascar/paradise.htm

http://www.wildmadagascar.org/conservation/threats.html

http://www.unric.org/en/madagascar/27072-madagascar-the-untold-crisis

http://www4.ncsu.edu/~tlbolton/world_forestry/

http://web1.cnre.vt.edu/lsg/GEOG3104S10Web/Group1/Caitlin/Introduction.html