https://news.mongabay.com/list/madagascar/ Environmental science and conservation news Mon, 09 Oct 2023 08:43:01 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.3 https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png https://news.mongabay.com/list/madagascar/ 32 32 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/newly-described-gecko-from-madagascar-a-master-of-disguise/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/newly-described-gecko-from-madagascar-a-master-of-disguise/#respond 14 Sep 2023 12:50:22 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273342 - U. garamaso, with a length of 8.3-13.9 cm (3.3-5.5 in), is one of the larger leaf-tailed lizards inhabiting the island, but is still a master at hiding in plain sight.
- The gecko’s known range is restricted to the forests in the north of the island: Montagne des Français, Montagne d’Ambre, and Ankarana in the Diana region.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/newly-described-gecko-from-madagascar-a-master-of-disguise/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/can-land-titles-save-madagascars-embattled-biodiversity-and-people/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/can-land-titles-save-madagascars-embattled-biodiversity-and-people/#respond 14 Aug 2023 10:29:02 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=272018 - The state is using the initiative to lean on potential migrants to remain in the country’s deep south, where five years of failed rains have left 2 million people hungry, instead of migrating north, where they are often blamed for social tensions and for destroying forests.
- This March, the Malagasy government started work on a Titre Vert enclave in the Menabe region, a popular destination for migrants from the drought-hit south, to dissuade them from clearing unique dry forests to grow crops.
- Critics say the government is holding people back in a rain-starved region without providing enough support; in Menabe, backers of the project hope to provide ample assistance to get migrants out of the forests and onto their feet.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/can-land-titles-save-madagascars-embattled-biodiversity-and-people/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/madagascar-signs-new-sustainable-tuna-deal-with-the-eu/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/madagascar-signs-new-sustainable-tuna-deal-with-the-eu/#respond 07 Aug 2023 16:12:01 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=271839 - The EU says the deal benefits Madagascar by providing key funding to support fisheries governance, and civil society groups praised the Madagascar government for creating a more inclusive and transparent negotiating process than in the past.
- However, critics contend that the deal offers little benefit to the citizens of Madagascar, one of the poorest countries in the world, and enables European vessels to exacerbate the overfishing of Indian Ocean tuna stocks.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/madagascar-signs-new-sustainable-tuna-deal-with-the-eu/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/villagers-turn-to-charcoal-made-of-bamboo-to-save-a-madagascar-forest/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/villagers-turn-to-charcoal-made-of-bamboo-to-save-a-madagascar-forest/#respond 07 Jul 2023 15:52:48 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=270668 - To reduce their dependency on the forest, local communities are planting the versatile bamboo species from Asia to make charcoal and restore watersheds.
- Although the exotic bamboo species can be used to protect the forest and watersheds, scientists raise concerns about the ecological impacts of its use.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/villagers-turn-to-charcoal-made-of-bamboo-to-save-a-madagascar-forest/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/fire-imperils-madagascars-baobabs-qa-with-park-director-diamondra-andriambololona/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/fire-imperils-madagascars-baobabs-qa-with-park-director-diamondra-andriambololona/#respond 03 Jul 2023 08:00:04 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=270398 - The forest is facing increasing anthropogenic pressure, especially from bushfires.
- Mongabay spoke with Diamondra Andriambololona, the director of Kirindy Mite National Park in southwestern Madagascar and the nearby Andranomena Special Reserve, about how the increase in fires is affecting the region’s unique forest and what is being done to reduce them.
- “The pressures on the forest will continue to increase as long as the people remain poor,” says Andriambololona.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/fire-imperils-madagascars-baobabs-qa-with-park-director-diamondra-andriambololona/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/extreme-reforestation-baobab-planters-confront-fires-loggers-cattle-and-more/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/extreme-reforestation-baobab-planters-confront-fires-loggers-cattle-and-more/#respond 06 Jun 2023 15:28:03 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=269206 - Dry Forest, a young Malagasy NGO, is attempting an extreme form of reforestation to save the forest in Kirindy Mite National Park.
- In addition to the bushfires, the NGO faces many other challenges linked to local poverty.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/extreme-reforestation-baobab-planters-confront-fires-loggers-cattle-and-more/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/fish-deaths-near-rio-tinto-mine-in-madagascar-dredge-up-community-grievances/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/fish-deaths-near-rio-tinto-mine-in-madagascar-dredge-up-community-grievances/#respond 16 May 2023 10:19:21 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=268549 - Civil society groups say the mine’s effluent enters neighboring water bodies with alarming regularity, endangering people’s health and robbing them of their livelihoods, and that the mining company is doing little to better the lives of Malagasy people most impacted by its activities.
- The company says it is not responsible for the fish deaths and is providing water and aid to improve relations with local people.
- “If they want to maintain good relations, the first thing to do is not release untreated wastewater into the potable water of villagers,” Tahiry Ratsiambahotra, a Malagasy activist, told Mongabay.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/fish-deaths-near-rio-tinto-mine-in-madagascar-dredge-up-community-grievances/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/madagascar-bush-fires-prompt-exasperated-ngo-to-curtail-tree-planting/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/madagascar-bush-fires-prompt-exasperated-ngo-to-curtail-tree-planting/#respond 01 May 2023 06:00:46 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=267964 - Weary of repeated bush fires and an alleged lack of government action, the NGO announced in January that it would reduce its activities by a third.
- The announcement followed the catastrophic loss of thousands of freshly planted saplings to a bush fire.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/madagascar-bush-fires-prompt-exasperated-ngo-to-curtail-tree-planting/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/rio-tinto-must-repair-the-damage-caused-by-their-madagascar-mine-commentary/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/rio-tinto-must-repair-the-damage-caused-by-their-madagascar-mine-commentary/#respond 28 Apr 2023 13:33:26 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=267940 - Though it’s a large employer in the region, activists say that the company’s Qit Minerals Madagascar mine contaminates water supplies and reduces food security for the vulnerable local population.
- “We [are] calling for the creation of a grievance mechanism which will truly respond to people’s concerns, and that complies with international standards – not only by giving them financial compensation, but by affording them their dignity,” a new op-ed says.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/rio-tinto-must-repair-the-damage-caused-by-their-madagascar-mine-commentary/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/madagascar-what-happens-to-villagers-when-a-graphite-mine-comes-knocking/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/madagascar-what-happens-to-villagers-when-a-graphite-mine-comes-knocking/#respond 27 Apr 2023 16:46:50 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=267824 - In November, the company, BlackEarth Minerals (BEM), told investors it was ready to move to the next stage, exploitation, and planned to start construction of a mine this year, which could mean resettling the villagers and moving their tombs. But villagers said they haven’t given the company permission to do so.
- BEM, now known as Evion Group, is touting Madagascar as an alternative to China , currently the world’s leading graphite supplier, but experts and activists say the graphite mining rush is coming to a country and communities ill-prepared for it: obsolete mining laws, a brittle land rights regime, and limp environmental and social protections.
- A top Evion executive told Mongabay that the villagers had no private claims to the land, but the company would respect their traditional rights.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/madagascar-what-happens-to-villagers-when-a-graphite-mine-comes-knocking/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/after-150-years-of-damage-to-people-and-planet-rio-tinto-must-be-held-to-account-commentary/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/after-150-years-of-damage-to-people-and-planet-rio-tinto-must-be-held-to-account-commentary/#respond 05 Apr 2023 22:27:59 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=267261 - As the company gathers on April 6 for its Annual General Meeting, advocates are pointing out that after all this time, its shareholders should grapple with the company’s legacy of damaging people and planet.
- “Companies like Rio Tinto must be held accountable for the harm they cause,” a new op-ed argues, and a new law proposed in the UK – the Business, Human Rights and Environment Act – would allow people to take companies like it to court more easily for environmental and human rights abuses committed abroad.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/after-150-years-of-damage-to-people-and-planet-rio-tinto-must-be-held-to-account-commentary/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/will-clean-energy-minerals-provoke-a-shift-in-how-mining-is-done-in-africa/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/will-clean-energy-minerals-provoke-a-shift-in-how-mining-is-done-in-africa/#respond 30 Mar 2023 08:43:40 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=266964 - With mining activity ramping up across Africa, civil society organizations are asking for concrete changes in how mining is done and whose needs it addresses.
- Many activists who work with communities in Africa fear that far from benefiting from their mineral wealth, countries that hold reserves for critical minerals will pay the steepest price for their extraction, a replication of the mining footprint without a transformation in the way mining is done.
- While most activists and observers agree about the need to pursue the highest environmental, social and governance standards, many CSOs say it doesn’t have to happen as part of a superpower-led geopolitical race but be part of a globally accepted framework.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/will-clean-energy-minerals-provoke-a-shift-in-how-mining-is-done-in-africa/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/lost-bird-found-dusky-tetraka-seen-in-madagascar-after-24-year-absence/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/lost-bird-found-dusky-tetraka-seen-in-madagascar-after-24-year-absence/#respond 07 Mar 2023 17:47:26 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=266198 - The bird was found at a lower elevation than expected, in thick underbrush near a river. The team plans to search for the dusky tetraka again during the breeding season to learn more about its ecology and biology.
- The dusky tetraka is listed as one of the top 10 most-wanted lost birds, an initiative that aims to locate bird species that have not been seen and recorded for a minimum of 10 years.
- More than 90% of the species found in Madagascar are endemic, with the island yielding at least 150 new-to-science species in the last 30 years.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/lost-bird-found-dusky-tetraka-seen-in-madagascar-after-24-year-absence/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/top-15-species-discoveries-from-2022-photos/ https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/top-15-species-discoveries-from-2022-photos/#respond 29 Dec 2022 17:52:19 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=264198 - Scientists estimate that only 10% of all the species on the planet have been described. Even among the most well-known group of animals, mammals, scientists think we have only found 80% of species.
- Unfortunately, many new species of plants, fungi, and animals are assessed as Vulnerable or Critically Endangered with extinction.
- Although a species may be new to science, it may already be well known to locals and have a common name. For instance, Indigenous people often know about species long before they are “discovered” by Western Science.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/top-15-species-discoveries-from-2022-photos/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/some-tree-dwelling-primates-may-adapt-more-easily-to-life-on-the-ground-massive-study-shows/ https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/some-tree-dwelling-primates-may-adapt-more-easily-to-life-on-the-ground-massive-study-shows/#respond 02 Dec 2022 02:16:33 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=263130 - Species with diverse diets, smaller body masses, and larger group sizes may adjust to terrestrial life more successfully than others.
- The huge international study drew from more than 150,000 hours of observations of 47 species in Madagascar and Central and South America.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/some-tree-dwelling-primates-may-adapt-more-easily-to-life-on-the-ground-massive-study-shows/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2022/11/will-cites-finally-act-to-protect-rosewood-this-month-commentary/ https://news.mongabay.com/2022/11/will-cites-finally-act-to-protect-rosewood-this-month-commentary/#respond 04 Nov 2022 19:40:43 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=262225 - Both CITES and Madagascar have banned the export of rosewood and ebony, but there appears to be no end to the illegal trade, and the fate of nearly 40,000 illegally-exported rosewood logs seized in Singapore, Kenya and Sri Lanka in 2014 is still uncertain.
- Action is needed at COP-19 to protect such stockpiles of seized rosewood from being sold, and for the remaining Malagasy rosewood and ebony trees to be protected before they are all gone, a new op-ed argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2022/11/will-cites-finally-act-to-protect-rosewood-this-month-commentary/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2022/10/in-madagascar-a-tree-planting-business-goes-long-on-social-short-on-eco/ https://news.mongabay.com/2022/10/in-madagascar-a-tree-planting-business-goes-long-on-social-short-on-eco/#respond 10 Oct 2022 18:43:58 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=260970 - Bôndy makes money by offering social and environmental responsibility solutions to other companies, by planting trees on farmers’ land on their behalf.
- Although it has only been operating since 2018, the company’s model is proving successful with both the rural people receiving tree-planting services and the companies financing the projects.
- Some conservationists, however, are skeptical about the environmental impacts of Bôndy’s approach, which focuses mainly on planting non-native acacia and eucalyptus trees that can be cut for fuel and timber, as well as fruit trees.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2022/10/in-madagascar-a-tree-planting-business-goes-long-on-social-short-on-eco/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2022/09/worlds-smallest-primate-is-fading-into-extinction-scientists-fear/ https://news.mongabay.com/2022/09/worlds-smallest-primate-is-fading-into-extinction-scientists-fear/#respond 29 Sep 2022 06:00:11 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=260964 - Another team of researchers warned that the Milne-Edwards’s sifaka (Propithecus edwardsi), a species native to the tropical rainforests of eastern Madagascar, could vanish in 25 years.
- “The risk of extinction accelerates dramatically when we take into account deforestation and climate extremes,” said Eric Isai Ameca y Juárez, a specialist in biodiversity loss and climate change at Beijing Normal University, but added that deforestation alone could wipe out the sifaka.
- About a third of the tree cover inside Menabe Antimena National Park, where the Madame Berthe’s mouse lemur is found, has disappeared since 2015.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2022/09/worlds-smallest-primate-is-fading-into-extinction-scientists-fear/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2022/09/eight-new-to-science-geckos-described-from-biodiversity-haven-madagascar/ https://news.mongabay.com/2022/09/eight-new-to-science-geckos-described-from-biodiversity-haven-madagascar/#respond 15 Sep 2022 16:39:52 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=260353 - They were elevated to species level following DNA studies of what was, for decades, thought to be a single species group of dwarf gecko, Lygodactylus madagascariensis. They add there could be up to 18 distinct genetic lineages.
- Scientists have found and named at least 150 new-to-science species from Madagascar in the last 30 years, and are still finding more nearly every year. More than 90% of species in Madagascar are endemic, meaning they’re found nowhere else on Earth.
- Given ongoing threats to the forests and ecosystems in Madagascar, scientists say we may not be finding and naming species quickly enough to know what’s being lost.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2022/09/eight-new-to-science-geckos-described-from-biodiversity-haven-madagascar/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2022/09/the-western-indian-ocean-lost-4-of-its-mangroves-in-24-years-report-finds/ https://news.mongabay.com/2022/09/the-western-indian-ocean-lost-4-of-its-mangroves-in-24-years-report-finds/#respond 07 Sep 2022 23:56:11 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=260060 - The WIO region includes the coastal areas of Kenya, Tanzania, Madagascar and Mozambique, which together account for 5% of the world’s mangroves.
- The report finds the majority of WIO mangrove loss was driven by unsustainable wood extraction, land clearance for agriculture and the impacts of storms and flooding.
- Mangroves provide vital ecosystem services to coastal communities and habitats, and sequester large amounts of carbon.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2022/09/the-western-indian-ocean-lost-4-of-its-mangroves-in-24-years-report-finds/feed/ 0