Deforestation in madagascar

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Finally, governmental incompetence increases the rate of deforestation on the island, first of that is the lack of responsibility of the government. The first representatives of the government do nothing to protect forests or to punish people who destroy forests. Furthermore, Horning (2013) remarked that farmers assured that the state is absent through the island, and members of the state just appear for collecting taxes or most of the time for bribe extraction (p.117). Hence due to the absence of the government, the destruction of forests has increased in rural areas. Above all, according to Braun (2011), the political crisis in 2009, which removed the eventual government by a coup d’etat, triggered illegal logging in protected areas, such as in Marojejy National Park. So now, some protected areas are encroached on deforestation. Patel (2009) reported, “The face of rich, armed, and politically connected criminals (believed to have ties to elements in China), the parks simply lack the resources to stop deforestation” (as cited in Braun, 2011, para.15), and Ploch and Cook (2012) noted “International outrage at the unconstitutional taking of power froze international development aid, which was instrumental in the battle for sustainable development and biological conservation” (as cited in Newsome & Hassel, 2013, p. 4). Most of members of the government were corrupt because there was no president during the crisis. Mayors, judges or police forces received bribes so they let illegal exploitation to happen. So corruption is one of deforestation causes. Last, due to the debts of the country, the government prefers to earn money instead of the conservation of green areas. Kermen et al. (2000) declared “national governments often make large-scale natural resource decisions affecting conservation”(para. 3) and she added that the forest in Masoala has been planned by the government to be exploited by foreign companies to bring millions of dollars to the Malagasy government but by the intervention of several international organisations devoted to protecting the environment, the government decided to turn down the project and transformed the forest into a protected area (para. 10). In brief, the incompetence of the government increases deforestation in Madagascar.

To conclude, human industry, unsustainable agriculture, governmental incompetence are the principal causes of deforestation in Madagascar. Forests are threatened by exploitation of natural resources, slash-and burn for expansion of lands for farming, and political instability which pushes people to cut down trees due to poverty. Most of the forests on this island have not been explored by scientists. Many plants and animals remain unknown and most of them might be source of new medicines or even a cure for cancer. Malagasy people should protect their forests because they have a chance that no other countries have. According to Goodman and Bens (2003, 2005) “Because of the high biodiversity species endemism; and the level of human threat, Madagascar is a critical global conservation” (as cited in Newsome & Hassel, 2013, p. 2). Governments should take responsibility, make Malagasy people aware of the importance of forests and enforce laws to stop deforestation.

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References

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