How have people impacted the ecosystem?

Humans are the leading contributors to the decline of Madagascar's tropical rainforest. Located within an island, the conservation status can be classified as "ugly" because of its isolation. Reasons for anthropogenic destruction of forests include agriculture, logging for timber, ranging, and fuel wood.

As a developing country, many of the residents rely on subsistence agriculture and commercial agriculture to survive. These farmers convert and deforest the rainforest into rice fields, coffee plantations, etc. Unfortunately, the method most Madagascan's use is slash-and-burn agriculture. This farming technique is unsustainable because it requires the land to be cut and burned before a crop can be planted. After the production of crops, the soil is so malnourished that it can't be used for almost seven years. Even if the land may be used again, the productivity of the soil is short-lived and only lasts a few cycles before the land is fruitless and barren. As a result, this contributes to a vicious cycle that requires Malagasy (Madagascan people) to continually cut down more of the forest to grow more crops.

Due to the impoverished economy and corruption, deforestation has been an ongoing problem in Madagascar. Though the government has set laws banning logging of the tropical rainforest, illegal logging still takes place. Most logging is targeted at valuable hardwoods only found in the forest such as rosewood and ebony. In fact, prices can go up to two thousand dollars per a ton. In addition to hardwoods, trees have been cut down for rangeland, charcoal, and fuelwood. The forest is decreasing at such an alarming rate that the situation has received international attention and pressures the Madagascan government to act promptly. According to studies, the deforestation rate in Madagascar is 2000 kilometers squared per a year, which if continued means the rainforest will be non existent in about five years.