Slash-and-burn farming eats away at a Madagascar haven for endangered lemurs, frogs
by Edward Carver on 9 March 2021
The Ankeniheny-Zahamena Corridor (CAZ), a protected area in Madagascar, has experienced a surge in deforestation in the past five months, driven largely by slash-and-burn agriculture.
The loss of forest threatens rare and endangered wildlife found nowhere else, including lemurs and frogs and geckos, conservationists say.
Other factors fueling the deforestation include mining for gemstones and cutting of trees to make charcoal.
The problem in CAZ is emblematic of a wider trend throughout the central eastern region of Madagascar, in both protected and unprotected areas, where 1.5 million hectares (3.7 million acres) of tree cover has been lost since 2001.