Estonia

Bushfire in Madagascar: Natural Hazard, Useful Tool, and Change Agent

“…While walking through the hills with my informants, it was apparent that they appreciate a landscape kept free of bush encroachment and accumulated dry grass fuel, calling such a landscapes 'madio' or 'clean'. 25 These useful fires are key tools in the pastoral economy. In the past, fires served to maintain and renew grassland resources.…”

“…And these fires are certainly change agents, expanding grassy land covers at the expense of woody ones. 29 But the emphasis in this pyric phase is on fire as a useful tool.…”

“…A key moment was the new Forest Decree, which appeared in January 1930 after a decade of consultation and debate. 39 The 1930 Decree arose out of foresters' concerns with the pace of extractive logging, and naturalists' alarm over the loss of forest to fire. 40 Prominent naturalists Henri Perrier de la Bâthie and Henri Humbert actively promoted the decree.…”

“…They included district administrators, some range specialists, and anthropological and geographical researchers. 51 The fact that French rule after 1947 was more tenuous, and the appearance of new voices for fire tolerance, led to a slight softening of the repressive regime against fires. Fire came to be seen as a 'necessary evil' and several ideas emerged.…”

“…1 Bushfire does not usually figure on lists of natural hazards and disasters in Madagascar, despite being an 'Isle of Fire'. 2 This is quite a contrast to other parts of the worldparticularly Australia, California, and the Mediterranean rim -where bushfire is one of the most high profile hazards. Fire on Madagascar is usually written about as a 'hazard for nature', not as a 'natural hazard' for humans.…”