Madagascar - Part 3 by Les

hillsides of charcoal pits

Eucaylptus trees clear-cutted

The tragic thing about Madagascar, and one of the main reasons that we wanted to visit, is that the locals are clear cutting the indigenous rain forest at an alarming rate.  The reason for this is that natural gas and other alternative fuel prices are too high for most of the population to afford, so they have taken to making charcoal out of the trees.  While driving the roads, one can see whole mountains that have been cleared of all remnants of the original forest.  The trees have been replaced with smoking kilns, in which the tree cuttings are buried and fired for about a week, somehow leaving small lumps of charcoal. 

Bags of charcoal for sale

The charcoal is then wrapped in long grasses and packaged in burlap bags about a meter high.  This seems to be the size limit that will still allow the bags to be balanced on the head by the women for transport down to the village.   Each local village is outfitted with what we originally thought were crud benches made of long logs for the bus stop.  We later observed that the real purpose of the benches is to stack the bundles of charcoal for sale or to await transport to the main cities.  Frankie explained that the markup on the coal was so high in town that most city residents preferred to have it bused in by mini-van from the country side.

The downsides to the clearcutting are numerous and clearly obvious to an outside observer.   The detritus from the forest canopy provides a continuous source of nutrients to the soil, as well as providing habitat to millions of animals and insect species- many of which are found no place else on earth.   We had come to see the many species of lemur, which did not even survive in zoos around the world, as they would stage a hunger strike upon being captured.  There were only a few forests left on the island where it was illegal, and taboo, to cut down the trees, and these were the last bastions for the indigenous flora and fauna to survive.  Tragically, after the forest is gone the soil becomes devoid of nutrients and thus worthless to all- even the farmers.

This is a good point to bring up the paradox of saving the rainforest for the good of the whole of Madagascar (and the world climate for that matter) versus local families simply trying to provide for their basic needs.  It is hard to burden a local farmer with the global need to maintain the rainforest when he has no other alternative to provide heat and cooking fuel for his family.  Add to that the fact that most people here have not even seen a television, and are only looking at their local environment and needs.  There is no single answer for this multifaceted dilemma, but it is clear that the rainforest is teetering on the brink, and some solution that works for all parties must be implemented soon.