Eastern Madagascar
The fourth-largest island in the world, Madagascar contains some of the most biodiverse tropical forests. Its forests are carbon-rich and provide many low-cost opportunities for forest carbon investment.
Topography and Forest Ecology
Madagascar has a vast diversity of plants and animals, as well as distinctive topography. Of the 10,000 native plant species, 90 percent are found nowhere else in the world. The defining feature of Madagascar’s topography is a spine of mountains running the length of the island from north to south. Along the steep eastern slope of the mountain range lies a band of rainforest, and along the more gradual western slope are tropical dry forests, thorn forests, deserts, and scrublands. The band of rainforest on the eastern slope holds the greatest promise for forest carbon activities.
Deforestation Trends
Extensive deforestation has occurred all across Madagascar. Although the country has several national parks, only 18 percent of its native vegetation remains intact. Most of the deforestation is a result of slash-and-burn forest clearing to expand agriculture on marginal soils. Much of the eastern rainforest has now been cleared, degraded, fragmented, or converted to scrubland. Each year, approximately 1 percent of Madagascar’s forest is cut and as much as one-third of the country is burned to clear land for agriculture. Illegal logging for valuable hardwoods in the rainforest also has driven deforestation, as have subsistence fuelwood and charcoal production.
The governance situation in Madagascar has deteriorated even since the governance data for the Forest Carbon Index (FCI) was collected. Madagascar President Marc Ravalomanana resigned on March 17, 2009, after a coup that led to the mayor of Antananarivo and leader of the opposition, Andry Rajoelina, assuming the role of acting president. The EU does not recognize the new government of Madagascar, and the African Union has suspended the country’s membership. On October 6, 2009, a unity government was formed, which may rapidly improve Madagascar’s governance situation, as well as the prospects of its taking early action on forest conservation.