Madagascar Development

The long-held assumption that Madagascar has lost 90 percent of its forest cover due to fire and slash-and-burn agriculture may be overstated, argues new research published in Conservation Letters. Analyzing 6000-year pollen records in four sites, Malika Virah-Sawmy of Oxford University found evidence that vegetation in southeast Madagascar has for millennia been a mosaic of forests, woodlands and savannas, rather than continuous forests as generally believed. "Dry woodlands were once connected to humid forests in southeast Madagascar but disappeared in response to extreme dryness over the last 6000 years," Virah-Sawmy told mongabay.com. "By contrast, the humid forests were more resilient to these climatic shifts. Thus the current distribution of forest types in Madagascar may well be a function of climate change, rather than necessarily the product of human activities." Virah-Sawmy nonetheless notes that deforestation on the California-sized island has been extensi...

Andry Rajoelina, Marc Ravalomanana, Didier Ratsiraka and Albert Zafy, leaders of four major political parties in Madagascar began roundtable negotiations Wednesday in Maputo, Mozambique at the Southern African Development Community summit on the crisis in Madagascar. The objective of the summit is to advocate for an end to hostilities that have rocked the island since the beginning of the year through signing of a charter. They also wish to encourage the transitional government to hold new elections in the earliest possible time. Whilst many political analysts believe that this is a crucial moment, others think that this meeting is possibly the last chance to heave Madagascar out of the political crisis that has rocked the country’s foundations since the overthrow of President Marc Ravalomanana, last March. Under the auspices of the International Contact Group (ICG) headed by former Mozambican President Joachim Chissano, the heads of the four main Malagasy political parties met Wednesd...