Environment in Madagascar Essay ⋆ Environment Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

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In 1896 the island of Madagascar lost its status as an independent kingdom to French colonialism. Independence was reinstituted in 1960, launching almost two decades of one-party rule. In the mid- 1990s, Madagascar rejected socialism and began a process of privatization and liberalization by following the guidelines of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. In 2001, during a hotly-contested presidential election, half the country threatened to secede. Stability was restored when the High Constitutional Court declared a winner in April 2002.

With just over five percent arable land, more than 80 percent of the work force is engaged in agriculture and fishing. In recent years, the economy has become more diversified, and revenue from apparel industry exports is increasing. Natural resources include: graphite, chromite, coal, bauxite, salt, quartz, tar sands, semiprecious stones, mica, fish, and hydropower. With a per capita income of $900, Madagascar is the 18th poorest country in the world. Half of the population lives below the poverty line, and 37 percent of the people are severely undernourished. The United Nations Development Programme’s Human Development Reports rank Madagascar 146 of 232 countries on overall quality of life issues.

With a total area of 587,040 square kilometers, Madagascar is the fourth largest island in the world. Surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Republic of Madagascar has a coastline of 4,828 kilometers. A narrow coastal plain gives way to high plateau and mountains in the center of the island. Elevations range from sea level to 2,876 meters at Maromokotro in the northeast. Madagascar’s climate is varied; it is tropical along the coast but changing to temperate in inland areas and to arid in the south. Madagascar is subject to periodic cyclones, drought, and locust infestations.

Poverty plays a major role in the lives of many Malagasy. Some 55 percent of the population lack sustained access to safe drinking water, and 67 percent lack access to improved sanitation. Consequently, Madagascar’s population of 18,595,469 faces a high risk of contracting food and waterborne diseases that include bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever and schistosomiasis, a water contact disease. In some areas, Malagasy are at high risk of contracting vectorborne diseases such as malaria and plague. There is also growing concern about HIVIAIDS, which affects 140,000 Malagasy. Social indicators such as infant mortality (75.21 deaths per 1,000 live births), life expectancy (57.34 years), fertility rate (5.4 children per female), and literacy rate (68.9 percent) further reveal the effect that poverty has on the population.

Madagascar is experiencing soil erosion in response to overgrazing and to deforestation, which is occurring at a rate of 0.9 percent per year. Fires intentionally set to clear land for agriculture, particularly for use as rice fields, have done major damage to the environment. Ecologically valuable timber has been stripped from the rain forests and sold, sometimes earning as much as $2,000 a ton. Other trees are used in the production of charcoal. Desertification is also a growing problem, and surface water has been contaminated from the dumping of raw sewage and organic wastes.

The biodiversity of Madagascar’s rain forest is unique, and some scientists have dubbed Madagascar the “eighth continent” because of its biology. Eighty percent of the species found in Madagascar are endemic, such as the giraffe-necked weevil and the 33 species of lemurs for which Madagascar is best known. For centuries, the medicine men of Madagascar have known that certain plants had medicinal properties. In 1958, for instance, natives pointed out to foreign researchers that the Madagascar rosy periwinkle could work miracles. It has since been used to develop drugs that fight Hodgkin’s disease and childhood leukemia. Several species of flora and fauna that do not grow anywhere else in the world are now endangered.

Of 141 endemic mammal species, 50 are endangered, as are 26 of 172 endemic bird species. Some endangered animals are killed outright in response to local superstitions. The government has also played a role in endangering wildlife. In 1980 troops commandeered the Zinave National Park and set up a meat processing center. The introduction of aggressive alien species into Madagascar has further threatened the existence of endemic species.

A 2006 study by scientists at Yale University ranked Madagascar 116 of 132 countries on environmental performance, in line with comparable income and geographic groups. The lowest scores were received in the areas of environmental health and biodiversity and habitat. Around a fifth of Madagascar’s land area is still forested, and the government has protected 4.3 of all land, including an extensive network of national parks and reserves.

In 1988 the government of Madagascar published its first National Environmental Plan, establishing a framework for environmental policy that is focused on sustainable development. The plan was divided into three stages, designed to take effect over a period of 15 years, establishing the priorities of management and protection of biodiversity in conjunction with sustainable development; improving living conditions and production of natural resources; expanding conservation and developing of national parks and reserves; promoting environmental training and education; and establishing research and monitoring mechanisms.

The third stage, launched in 2003, stressed the issues of conservation, sustainable economic growth, and an improved quality of life for the people of Madagascar. The minister of environment was charged with implementing and enforcing all laws derived from the three plans. The government also invested in efforts to discover reliable sources of alternative energy that include wind, solar, and wasteto-energy initiatives.

Madagascar participates in the following international agreements on the environment: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, and Wetlands.

Bibliography:

Timothy Doyle, Environmental Movements in Minority and Majority Worlds: A Global Perspective (Rutgers University Press, 2005);
Kevin Hillstrom and Laurie Collier Hillstrom, Africa and the Middle East: A Continental Overview of Environmental Issues (ABCCLIO, 2003);
Valentine Udoh James, Africa’s Ecology: Sustaining the Biological and Environmental Diversity of a Continent (McFarland, 1993).