Posted on 04 August
2010
Masoala Park in the Antsinanana rainforest.
The park, along with Mrojejy Park, has been
the center of illegal logging activities
following political turmoil in March 2009.
The United Nations’ Educational,
Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
has placed the Atsinanana Rainforest in
Madagascar on its list of World Heritage
in Danger sites because of an ongoing government-influenced
illegal logging crisis and continuing lemur
bush meat consumption in some of the national
parks that are part of the forest.
UNESCO in a statement
noted that despite a decree outlawing the
exploitation and export of precious woods,
Madagascar continues to provide export permits
for illegally logged rosewood and ebony.
It also said that other countries that have
ratified the World Heritage Convention are
known destinations for this timber.
The Atsinanana rainforests
hosts six national parks. Two of those,
Marojejy and Masoala parks, have been the
center of illegal logging activities following
political turmoil in March 2009.
Bring much needed attention
to the ongoing habitat loss in Madagascar
WWF’s Regional Representative
in Madagascar Niall O’Connor said he welcomed
the reclassification. “The impact of illegal
logging of precious woods on many forest
sites, including the world heritage site
of Antsinanana, is devastating for biodiversity,
for livelihoods and for the world, as we
continue to lose the unique biodiversity
of the island of Madagascar,” O’Connor said.
“With UNESCO reclassifying
the site as a world heritage site in danger,
the world should stand up and see the ongoing
environmental destruction ongoing in Madagascar,
and increase both pressure and support for
immediate action. We need to both protect
the unique environment for Madagascar and
the critical services they provide to the
majority of the population who struggle
to seek out a subsistence living from the
natural resources.”
Action needed to stop
illegal logging in Madagascar
With the recently submitted
proposal to list all Malagasy precious woods
under protections of the UN’s Convention
on International Trade in Endangered Species
of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), an important
step has been taken to regulate trade and
gain transparency. However, the situation
remains far from being solved, O’Connor
said.
About 52,000 tons of
precious wood from 100,000 trees are estimated
to have been cut in 2009 alone, possibly
covering 20,000 hectares within the parks.
An additional 500,000 trees were probably
felled to help raft the heavy trees downstream,
according to WWF.
"In adding this
site to the danger list, we are calling
for international action to halt illegal
logging and to also ensure that no illegally
logged precious woods from Madagascar enter
national markets," said Tim Badman,
the head of World Heritage sites at the
International Union for Conservation of
Nature (IUCN), in the UNESCO statement.
Madagascar’s Atsinanana
rainforest, says the UNESCO statement “contains
globally outstanding biodiversity and have
an exceptional proportion of endemic plant
and animal species. The level of endemism
within the property is approximately 80
to 90 percent for all groups, and endemic
families and genera are common.”
“The situation is not
just an environmental disaster, it is a
pending humanitarian disaster, and we need
to address this now” says O’Connor.
Other sites added to
the World Heritage in Danger list during
the annual meeting, held in Brasilia, Brazil
late last month included: the US' Everglades
National Park, Georgia’s Bagrati Cathedral
and Gelati Monastery, and Uganda’s Tombs
of Buganda Kings.
