Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
northeast. Global Witness and the EIA have also called on individual countries
to crack down on illegal imports.
Natural Resource Exploitation
Madagascar has immense natural wealth: oil, gas, minerals (nickel and iron in particular),
gemstones and precious woods. But with such richness comes great pressure to make the
best of this natural endowment.
There are a number of large-scale mining projects in the works, which, if administered
well, could bring prosperity to a population that has long suffered. Poorly executed, they
could wreck havoc in the country's fragile environment.
Amongst the most controversial projects are plans to develop tar sand deposits in the
west of the country. Tar sands have the worst environmental footprint of all oil projects:
theyareenergy-intensive toextract andrequire hugeamounts ofwater,aparticularly sticky
point in the arid west.
Madagascar's seas also suffer from overfishing. Human population growth and lack of
foodandemploymentalternativesinthesouthhavepushedmarineecosystemstothebrink.
A number of NGOs are currently working with coastal communities to improve their live-
lihood's sustainability. Similar work is being done with communities practicing slash-and-
burn agriculture in forest areas.
