"Madagascar's bid to save its majestic baobab trees"

Antonia Bornemann

10/12/2013

Current Event #3

By Errol Barnett and Teo Kermeliotis, CNN

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/31/world/africa/madagascar-deforestation-baobab/index.html

Madagascar’s landscape has been famous for the baobab trees for centuries. The trees have quite a unique shape and are unmovable symbols of the scenery in Antananarivo, Madagascar. A myth states that when gods planted the trees, these kept walking away so that the gods had to plant them upside down, which now explains the name under which the baobab tree is also known, “the upside down tree”. The island country, located in the Indian Ocean, has quit a rich ecosystem of several animal and plant species. These have lived here in isolation for the last millions of years, which is the reason why 90% of the wildlife found here, cannot be found anywhere else on the planet anymore. However, 6/8 of the baobab tree species are now considered to be endemic species to Madagascar. This causes an enormous threat to the citizens of Madagascar because the tree has been used as a food resource as well as a medical one. The fruits of these treats are edible and the leaves are usually used for several medical purposes. Furthermore, water is stored in the trunks of the trees during very dry periods. "First, they use the bark for the construction of their house and then they use leaves as medicinal plants. They eat also the fruit because the fruit are very rich in vitamins and don't forget also it's one of the attractions for tourists to come here. There are many interactions with the life of community living around forest," explains botanist Jimmy Razafitsalama. Although the people living in Madagascar are aware of the value of the baobab tree, their actions are creating a serious threat to the species. The country already lost about 90% of its forest and nature due to deforestation. Although several rural communities are dependent on the island’s resources, they will have to end exploiting the land that is surrounding them. A lot of environmentalists state that actions such as logging for timber and fuel wood or “slash and burn agriculture”, in which a forest is simply burned to create fields, are destroying the lands biodiversity and creating a threat to key species. "They cut the trees down to clear the land for agriculture or for grazing their animals," says Razafitsalama, who has moved to the island's northernmost part near the city of Diego Suarez to teach locals about biodiversity. The country has now come up with some conservation and reforestation programs in order to gain their biodiversity and environment back.  If no further action is taken soon, then one of the world’s biggest biodiversity hotspots, Madagascar, will slowly be destroyed.

Reading this made me think of how we, the humans, are just destroying more and more of the nature surrounding us without even knowing or realizing its value to us. I think it is scary to read how much deforestation is taking place, not only in Madagascar, and how little is done to stop this. The people being aware of this should increase and all of us show try to do our part in this process.