Will the forest survive?
Concern for the forests of Madagascar has been around a long time. A voices concerns about the continuance of the forest:
For sixty million years the forests of Madagascar have evolved in splendid isolation. Their ecology is unique and biologists are busy cataloguing one of the world’s last great storehouses of genetic diversity. But it is a race against time. For the past 1500 years ago humans have slashed and burned their way across the island. At the current rate all of Madagascar’s forests will be gone in 30 years. But a unique partnership between a traditional healer and a biologist looks set to succeed where other more traditional approaches to conservation have failed. Biologist Dr Nat Quansah and healer Ndrunulla are teaching people to value the forest’s traditional herbal cures. Their health clinic uses natural drugs of the ‘pharmacy in the forest’
Produced by ABC Australia
Distributed by Journeyman PicturesWatch the video
Unfortunately, despite the optimism of the video, ‘slash and burn’ farming continues to reduce Madagascar’s forest. You can find out more about threat to Madagascar’s environment HERE.
Suggested books
Other Africa environment books
Border Jumpers : A few words about Madagascar Africa IMF Report : Madagascar 2009 The Textile Arts of Madagascar Undercutting Africa – EPAs, forests and the EU’s quest for Africa’s raw materials Biodiversity Corridor planned for Cote d’Ivoire and Liberia