Madagascar is famous for its fauna, more than its flora, which is one reason why many conservation efforts there tend to be focused on animals facing extinction. But the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Madagascar Programme (MBG-Madagascar) has been trying to redress that imbalance by focusing its efforts on the forests – selecting 11 areas of the island to protect for the remarkable flora within. “The forests are rich in terms of diversity and endemicity, with some 14,000 species,” says conservation unit coordinator Jeannie Raharimampionona. “Ninety percent are found nowhere else in the world – and they are very, very threatened.”
One of the biggest threats comes from a farming technique used by many Malagasy farmers who live in the forests of Ankarabolava-Agnakatrika, in south-eastern Madagascar. “Slash-and-burn, a traditional agricultural practice,” says Raharimampionona. “The first year, they cut. They leave it to dry for a year, then burn it, and plant seeds and rice on the ash,” she continues, not an inch of judgment in her voice. “This is the way of the Malagasy. We eat a lot of rice – this is how we grow that rice.” The rural population also relies on other natural capital, such as trees for timber or fuel, and hunting wild animals for food. And when an area is no longer fertile or productive, farmers move on, and “the forest is eaten, slowly, slowly”.
