It’s not just poverty: unregulated global market and bad governance explain unceasing deforestation in Western Madagascar

Abstract

Madagascar is recognized both for its unparalleled biodiversity and the high level of threat suffered by this biodiversity, associated in particular with anthropogenic deforestation. Despite sustained efforts to fight poverty and curb deforestation, forest cover in Madagascar is rapidly decreasing. To try to explain why it is so difficult to stop deforestation in Madagascar, we analyzed the recent deforestation process in Western Madagascar through satellite image analysis and field surveys. We show that deforestation has increased from less than 0.9%/yr on 2000-2010 to more than 2%/yr on 2010-2017. We identified two major causes of deforestation, which were not associated with subsistence agriculture: slash-and-burn agriculture for the cultivation of cash crops (maize and peanut), and uncontrolled fires to create open pasture. Maize production is mainly at the destination of the domestic market and is used in particular for livestock feeding. Peanut production has boomed since 2013 and more than half of it is now exported towards Asiatic countries. The money earned by farmers is principally invested into zebu herd acquisition. Trade of agricultural commodities benefits several intermediaries, some of whom have political responsibilities thus creating conflicts of interest. On the other hand, agents from institutions in charge of the management of the protected areas have no means to enforce laws against deforestation. In the absence of an efficient strategy to stop deforestation, we predicted that 38-93% of the forest present in 2000 will have disappeared in 2050. Forest loss, apart from biodiversity loss and climate-change global issues, will be at the expense of local population. In order to stop deforestation, international aid should be used to improve local governance to enforce environmental laws and pressure should be put on trading companies to buy certified agricultural commodities that are not derived from deforestation.

Spatial scenario of tropical deforestation and carbon emissions for the 21stcentury

“…Moreover, given the current global context, the business-as-usual deforestation scenario we examine here appears to be rather conservative. For example, we do not account for the effect of future population growth (Raftery et al 2012), which will likely have a major effect on deforestation, particularly in Africa, where a large part of the population depends on slash-and-burn agriculture for their livelihood (Barnes 1990, Vieilledent et al 2020). Nor do we account for the increasing demand for agricultural commodities from the tropics, such as palm oil, beef and soybean, which will likely lead to a significant increase in deforestation (Karstensen et al 2013, Strona et al 2018).…”

Fostering local involvement for biodiversity conservation in tropical regions: Lessons from Madagascar during the COVID‐19 pandemic

“…Such crises are common to the tropics, particularly in poverty‐stricken countries like Madagascar (e.g Bang & Khadakkar, 2020; Schwitzer et al, 2014), and represent a recurring threat to biodiversity conservation. For example, economic and political decisions and crises in Madagascar severely damaged conservation efforts (Jones et al, 2019; Kauffman, 2006; Vieilledent et al, 2020) leading to environmental deterioration and biodiversity loss, despite efforts from international funding agencies (Jones et al, 2019; Kauffman, 2006; Mbaiwa et al, 2011). The COVID‐19 crisis provides an opportunity to evaluate the efficacy of existing conservation strategies and research approaches across the tropics in the face of current challenges and to build resilience to future crises of all types (Miller, 2020).…”

Smallholder vanilla agroforestry in Madagascar: biodiversity, ecosystem services and yields in a land-use context

“…Forest loss in Madagascar is mainly driven by smallholder agriculture, in line with trends across Africa but in contrast to other tropical regions (Curtis et al, 2018;Sy et al, 2019). In dry western and southern Madagascar, forest is typically burned to grow maize or peanuts (Vieilledent et al, 2020). After only a few years of cultivation, weed prevalence and dropping soil fertility lead to dwindling yields which prompt farmers to cut additional forest (Gay-des-Combes et al, 2017;Raharimalala et al, 2010).…”

“…Blaming poor smallholder farmers as the sole responsible of environmental degradation is thus problematic. Numerous studies (Jarosz, 1993;Kull, 2000;Scales, 2011;Vieilledent et al, 2020) show that state policies, international market forces and urban elites have had a profound impact on rural land-use change in Madagascar, often actively promoting destructive activities. Furthermore, corruption jeopardizes many efforts that aim at improving the living conditions of Malagasy people and conserving the country's biodiversity (Gore et al, 2013).…”

“…agents of change, Andriamihaja et al, 2021) may provide a first starting point. Importantly, any attempts to address the issues locally also need to go in concert with improvement of country-wide governance, as they otherwise risk to be jeopardized (Vieilledent et al, 2020;Waeber et al, 2016).…”