Formerly an independent kingdom, Madagascar became a French colony in 1886, but regained its independence in 1960. During 1992-93, free presidential and National Assembly elections were held, ending 17 years of single-party rule. Madagascar's forests are a shimmering, seething mass of a trillion stems and dripping leaves and slithering, jumping, quirky beasts out of nature's bag of tricks. Cut off from the African mainland for millions of years, Madagascar's teeming forests are a naturalist's wet dream; they've preserved oddities and developed specializations found nowhere else on earth, and you can get among them in a spectacular collection of accessible national parks. But any nation that turns to North Korea for aid has got to be a basket case. Madagascar's Marxist generals as well as its chameleons are fresh out of the Age of Dinosaurs. The generals haven't got it right - part of the population regularly suffers malnutrition owing to bad seasons and archaic economic orthodoxies at home and abroad. Since human settlement, the forests have been whittled down to a mere 15% of their former extent, scores of species are on the brink of extinction and the topsoil is barreling down into the Indian Ocean like. The countryside alternates between astounding untouched forests and breathtaking human-induced destruction on a scale almost unmatched anywhere. Madagascar’s physical geography is not conducive of the current global trends and needs for economic production. They are severely behind the World as a whole in economic growth and restructuring to fit new world markets. Most of Madagascar lies in tropical or subtropical environment; the soil structure in these sorts of regions is not able to sustain long-term cultivation. The topsoil is good for agriculture for a few years, but after much longer it becomes burnt out, or depleted, and then it needs to rest for a period of time until it can yield a decent crop again. This is because of the way this soil obtains nutrients and the type of nutrients generally located there. Considering the island’s physical composition, it will be hard for the poor African nation to catch-up to the new world averages.
Physical Geography
Madagascar is located 250 miles off the eastern coast of Africa, just south of the equator. This island nation contains no ‘Principal’ lakes, oceans, seas, rivers or islands; however it does have one ‘Principal’ mountain- Maromokotro- that is located on the island’s central plateau. The island is over 1000 miles (1580 km) long and 350 miles (570 km) wide.
they also live in other types of forests in Madagascar. Lemurs can only be found living in
Wright, David, Heather LaRocca, and Grant DeJongh. "Global Problems." The Amazonian Rainforest: Forest to Farmland? The University of Michigan, 2007. Web. 14 Mar. 2014.
Larger than California and Oregon combined, Madagascar is the world's fourth largest island, after Greenland, New Guinea and Borneo. Located 250 miles off the south-east coast of Africa, the island extends 1,000 miles in length and 360 miles at its largest width. The island can be divided into three main parts: the East Coast, a narrow coastal strip abutting the steep slopes of the North-South mountain range, home of the rain forest; the Central Highlands, averaging 2500 to 4500 feet in altitude and culminating at 9430 feet, decorated with immense rice fields; and the West Coast, home of the baobabs and thorny forest. Coral reefs fringe a portion of the coast. Most plants and animals found in Madagascar exist only there.
When many hear about a lemur, they immediately think of the movie Madagascar and the fun loving role that is played by the lemur King Julien; similarly, when hearing the name Madagascar, many think of the land of the lemurs. However, what would happen if there were no more lemurs? This is a harsh but readily approaching reality of Madagascar today. Lemurs are known as the world’s most endangered mammals, and specifically the Simpona, otherwise known as the Silky Sifaka lemur, is critically endangered. If treatments of Madagascar’s habitat, specificity the small mountainous area of northeastern Madagascar where the Simpona lemur reside, continue being treated as they are today, this will not only lead to the complete extinction of this rare Lemur, but it will also affect the economic standing in Madagascar as a whole. Therefore, it is vital to recognize the solutions and act on them in order to prevent these devastating occurrences.
Forty years ago, Indonesia was known among scientists of human ecology as a land with exemplary sustainability in its agriculture and industry (Henley 2008: 273). However, a growing and uneven population distribution, large socio-economic inequalities, and a recent history of corrupt governing have led to severe problems in the management of its natural resources (O’Conner 2004: 320). Primarily, this refers to the management of Indonesian rainforests. Globally, tropical rainforests are like carbon sinks, storing 46% of the world’s living terrestrial carbon. Due to this, deforestation causes approximately 25% of the world’s total carbon emissions (Danielson et al. 2008: 349). Indonesia itself has a rapidly depleting supply of rainforests. In the fifty years from 1950 – 2000, Indonesia lost forty-percent of its rainforests, decreasing from 162 million hectares to just 98 million hectares. Current estimates state that from 1996...
Madagascar was one of the many countries of affected by European colonization in the late 19th century into the early 20th century. The country of Madagascar is located east of the continent of Africa, although it is included as a country. To be more specific, it was east of the country of Mozambique. Below I have provided a map of present day Africa to allow a better understanding of the country’s geographic location.
Deforestation in Africa is still a thriving conflict in today’s society. “Unlike other countries, deforestation in Africa is mainly caused by human activity, rather than for commercial use” (http://web.mit.edu , Massachusetts Institute of Technology). Citizens in Africa use wood for many purposes such as creating fuel, and other types of energy sources along with cooking. Although many highly educated persons have tried conducting a solution to this problem, they have not been able to come up with a final conclusion. People have realized that deforestation is an evolving problem that needs to be addressed, but it is hard to figure out an exact way to end it.
Throughout time, the Jewish people had been discriminated, oppressed, mistreated, and even killed way before the Nazi era. From Christ-killers to being the devil, the Jews were never truly accepted anywhere. When Hitler came around, his hatred towards the Jews and other minorities went in crescendo. First using “legal” actions to repress and signal out the Jews in Germany, then measures got worse by the second. Right before Germany invaded Poland in 1939, the Jews were banned from every aspect of German life, social, religious, economic, etc. Unfortunately, from 1939 through 1941, the German Wehrmacht having tremendous success, their new weapons and tactics such as the Blitzkrieg caught their enemies by surprise. As a result, more than six millions of Jews were now under the control of the Nazi
Madagascar is one of the most diverse areas of land that has undergone evolution totally independent from surrounding continents. The plant and animal species located on the island are all endemic to the island, meaning all are native species. The amount of diversity is very high compared to that of other continents and the species found here cannot be found anywhere else in the world. Currently all organisms located on this island are in danger, even the humans. Much damage has already been done, yet each year the land seems to die even more. Many species are dying off rapidly and drastic measures will have to be taken to stop all of these species from becoming extinct.
Madagascar’s cuisine can be clearly marked by its sheer simplicity. The food is prepared without too many spices, but the lack of spices does not make the food dull and bland. Cuisines of France, China, India and also East African and Arabian cultures have all made their influence felt in Madagascar. The traditional cuisine of Madagascar consists mainly of rice. The rice is called “Vary” and it is typically eaten with some accompaniment, which is called the “Laoka”. As you move down the country towards the southwest regions, you will get to eat rice that may be supplemented or replaced by ground maize. However rice is the main diet of the natives, and is available in bounty. The native people have become very resourceful in developing huge numbers of scrumptious preparations with this one simple grain.
Because of it’s poor geography-- the inconvenient layout of the land, it’s lack of crops and productive, beneficial sources of food and the poor nutrients that such frugal crop (the taro plant) provides, the country has struggled for centuries. Moreover, New Guinea’s wildlife is incredibly poor, home to no animals that they can control, domesticate and use as a reliable source of food or to work.
Governments in these countries need to stop thinking of forests as a renewable resource. The rate at which they are harvesting these areas drives them beyond the boundaries of sustainability. The efforts required by reforestation may not initially be cost effective, but it will result in not only the survivability of the environment, but of the country’s economy. Widespread awareness of these ideas will help fight against the natural human tendency towards instant gratification and short-term goals. Different methods of logging can be utilized to allow the rainforests to survive and regrow naturally and at a sustainable
The government allowed much of these unsustainable activities to occur without understanding the large scope of consequences it has. With land degradation, the country will not be able to “feed its population, provide water, develop the tourism industry, and diminish vulnerability to natural hazards”. Without the political will of the government, none of these issues can be addressed or minimized. The government needs to involve its efforts and funds to develop land use planning and to protect its resources in order to protect its future generations and the future of the country (Castro, Mataya, and Stark, 2007, p.
Sue, D.W., & Sue, D. (2013). Counseling the culturally diverse: Theory and practice (6th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Other than then attending the field trip we still had readings to complete for class. The topic for this week was Montreal as an indigenous city. One of the articles we had to look at was a Canadian survey from 2006, “The Aboriginal population profile for Montreal” by Lori Hohban. The survey is based on Aboriginal identity populations. The participants had to report themselves as belonging to one of the aboriginal groups. Specifically, North American Metis or Inuit. The article also illustrates the difference between two importance terms: first nations and aboriginal population. The definition of first nations refers to as individuals who distinguish themselves as North American Indian. The term Aboriginal population refers to an “aboriginal