Saving Madagascar One Tree at a Time
Written By: Anita Thomas
University of Phoenix Research on the disappearing Rainforest

As I read through some of the regions around the world and searched the Internet for information I kept going back to Madagascar. There was something about its beauty that had me drawn to it. The land is luxurious with rich trees and plants that seem to jump off the pages as I browsed each photo of this magnificent rainforest. I read through for information about the people, culture, land and government, I became aware of the destruction that was slowly destroying the hills that flourished with trees, animals, flowers, insects, and reptiles.
Trouble in paradise was effecting our world as we know it today. Everyday another tree is being cut down for farming, housing, growing coffee, for producing rubber and for timber (MT/PK Productions). Products we use everyday are coming from rainforest. Spices we use to have our food taste better, the Starbucks where we pay $4.00 a cup, the glue that holds the family together (play on words there, but you get the idea). These products are produced and harvested from rainforest.
The rainforest is not the only destruction that this region faces. Soil erosion, desertification along with other waste that is erupting in this county, is destroying sub-Saharan of Africa. Is there something we can do to preserve Madagascar, to perverse other providences, other countries? Yes, there is one tree at time, one field at a time and one species at a time.
Just what is happening to these countries, to the people and what effects is it having on the world? As I research more and become more involved in the study the more I realize we need to act, we all need to act. In these countries where the destruction is happening at rate of 6000 acres every hour, dung beetles are near extinction among other species (Butler 2007). What happens when these creatures are completely wiped off the planet? The dung beetle for example actually eats the feces from the other animals in the forest, thus keeping the forest cleaner should we say.
The beetle is not the only species in the forest dying off. Lemurs are beginning to disappear, which feed on the dung beetles as Lemurs have the largest amount of droppings in the forest. Out of approximately fifty-one different documented species, twenty-two have been reported as missing. To do the math that leaves twenty-one species’ left to roam the forest, left to roam Madagascar, left to roam the earth.
Biodiversity is still thriving in this region but the next century may be completely different. Biodiversity is the fact that different species of plants, animals, insects, organisms, all walks of life living together in one environment. Flora and Fauna getting along, feeding each other to survive. The fauna, mammals such as frugivorous bats that feed of fruits and insectivorous that feed of insects. Plus animals that travel through your forest in your back yard like deer, rabbits, and mice and yes even cats and dogs. They all play a role in the fauna. Flora meaning plant life, trees, flowers, as many as 12,000 different types of plant life. One hundred sixty five different varieties of Madagascar’s palms are not found anywhere else in the world (Butler 2007). As the forest disappear so will the biodiversity of flora and fauna.
Is this region of Africa or even Africa doing anything to save what is left, to rebuild what has been destroyed? The answer is yes; Madagascar is on top priority to protect certain areas of its region. Its development is one of the most advanced in Africa. Some of the areas protected are Bemaraha a providence of Madagascar and Masoala with a total of forty three sub-saharan on the list for protection (Butler 2007). Bemaraha is a protected park that was open in 1998 is 152,000ha (586 square miles) is best knows for it sharp mountainous limestone that has a height of 150 feet. The fish eagle is beginning to make a comeback in this area since it has been protected. Masoala has 230,00 square miles it is protecting that is top priorty due to its extensive rainforest and high biodiversity. Although with a high population of 85,000 people still living in the surrounding park, deforestation still suffers.
It is places like this that are being protected that are making the saving of rainforest and animal extinction come to life again. Government has stepped in and made park officials monitor illegal activities and to not let legal activities exceed levels beyond Government sustainable levels. Government in other countries could learn by the success of Madagascar’s efforts. In 2001 the Peruvian Government designated 40,000 square miles into long-term commercial timber use. Not until recently a study that began in 2005, did satellite images show the loss of the forest that this timber cutting was causing. Even though this slowed the process of deforestation it still was causing roughly 249 square miles of forest a year.
A plan to help in slowing the process of deforestation is the control of emission released in the air. The Kyotol Protocol was used to protect the Amazon rain forest. Although in theory it sounds good, the fact that the cutting of the forest was not included is not being deemed helpful at all. This particular matter was a concern in Brazil where most of the Amazon forest is located.
Non-profit organizations are helping to fund a large percentage of this protection of rainforest and animal protection in many countries around the world. The Nature Conservatory and the Save the Rainforest Foundation are a few groups that participate in funding, sponsors contribute to there funding by donations or money exchanged for advertising. Fund raising benefits held yearly provide much needed funds to help in the preservation. Combinations of services provided all helpful in saving the destruction of this precious land that we take for granted.
There are many things we can do to start preserving the rainforest and prevent animal extinction. It is very important that we save our planet for our planet cannot survive without forests. Recycle all the things we use that are made paper, like bags and advertisement that collect in our mailbox. This will lead to the less cutting down of trees. Reforestation or planting more trees in your surroundings will help balance that ecosystem and the rate of deforestation will diminish. If tree cutting is a must, try cutting an older tree, leaving the smaller ones to grow. Join an environmental awareness group that would help you be an advocate of reforestation. Instead of using wood to heat with or build campfires, use coal. It burns longer and while enjoying the warmth of the fire a tree is growing still. Support laws that protect the environment, and report those that abuse it.
If we all do our part and start today our tomorrows will soon look brighter. Little steps we take will leave an impact on the earth in the future. By saving a tree one step at a time, it not only changes the air we breathe by cleaning it, but we could find ways of curing or preventing diseases that plague the world. Would you love to find a cure for such illnesses as cancer, or even arthritis’s? What if one simple flower or a leaf from a rainforest tree could fight aids, what if?

References

Butler, Rhett (2005), Madagascar, retrieved September 18, 2007, from http://www.wildmadagascar.org/
Library of Congress (2005), A country study Madagascar, Federal research division, retrieved September 20, 2007, from http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/mgtoc.html
MT & PK Productions (2007), Preserving the rainforests, Learning about rainforest, retrieved September 25, 2007, from http://www.srl.caltech.edu/personnel/krubal/rainforest/Edit560s6/www/preserve
Pearson Education (2007), Madagascar, Information please, retrieved September 21, 2007, from http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0107743.html