Δημοσιεύτηκε στις January, 13 2021

About 95% of Madagascar's reptiles, 89% of its flora and 92% of its mammals exist nowhere else on Earth. Madagascar has been undergoing significant deforestation for a long time, but virgin forests still account for a quarter of our country's forest cover. 

In January 2021, WWF published a scientific report, "Deforestation Fronts : Drivers and Responses in a changing world." This report is the first comprehensive analysis linking the drivers of deforestation and global responses. At the global level, 24 "deforestation fronts" have been identified: these are regions with a significant concentration of deforestation hot spots and where large areas of remaining forests are under threat. Madagascar is one of the 24 global "deforestation fronts". According to the report : 

• Between 2004 and 2017, Madagascar lost 700,000 hectares of forest, in more or less scattered areas, mainly in the east and west of the country.
• Between 2002 and 2019, 1.3 million hectares were burned and the annual trend is increasing.
• The main drivers of current and future deforestation are: conversion of forest areas for small-scale agriculture, slash-and-burn agriculture; coal mining and cutting for fuelwood; and uncontrolled fires and bushfires. 

In 2020, according to figures shared by the Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development, 67,351 fire points were located in the forest areas of Madagascar. This is an absolute record compared to the figures for 2017, 2018 and 2019, with an increase of about 11% between 2019 and 2020. Over the entire territory (including non-forested areas), the Ministry detected 386,379 fire points. 

The problem of deforestation is neither national nor continental, it is global. The 24 fronts of global deforestation are in Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia and Oceania. According to scientists, a total of more than 43 million hectares were lost between 2004 and 2017 worldwide. This is an area roughly equivalent to the surface of Morocco. 

Globally, a multitude of approaches have been implemented to halt deforestation and forest degradation. While progress has been made to halt forest loss and degradation, both continue at an alarming rate. 

Against deforestation and its drivers, our responses must be inclusive and adapted to the local and regional contexts of Madagascar. Solutions are most effective when several responses are combined, and engage sectors other than conservation. The WWF report provides recommendations for addressing the challenges of deforestation.

What needs to be stopped: continue to subsidize unsustainable forms of commercial agriculture, allow corruption, allow damaging land speculation, do not punish illegal deforestation, continue to support unsustainable supply chains. 

What is already being done and needs to be strengthened: popularize public monitoring of deforestation recognizing that forests are common goods, strengthen and extend land rights for local people and communities who manage and protect forests, create public-private partnerships at sub-national level to encourage sustainable forest use and management, set clear targets for forest landscape restoration, including connectivity in fragmented areas. 

What can be done differently: support alternative livelihoods for communities directly dependent on forests, affordable financing for sustainable production, ensure better multisectoral integration of biodiversity, agriculture and forestry within governments. Protection of forests must not lead to the conversion of other natural ecosystems (e.g. grasslands and savannahs) - leakage must be avoided.


What new avenues to explore : 
Look for new opportunities, for example arising from the UN Decade for Ecosystem Restoration, why not mass mobilization, to restore forests and in particular to maintain and improve connectivity between remaining natural forests.

The year 2021 is a pivotal year to reverse the dramatic trend of degradation of our forests today. There is a commitment from everyone at all levels of our society to see the expansion of our forest, this common wealth, overcome its loss. This is not the business of the Ministry in charge of forests or of conservation NGOs alone. It is an emergency for everyone.   

Finally, according to the report, the Covid-19 crisis is pushing us towards the changes we need to make: if we want to protect ourselves from the next zoonoses, let's protect our forests.