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Published online 4 November 2009 | Nature 462, 26-29 (2009) | doi:10.1038/462026a
News Feature
Carbon trading: How to save a forest
Projects in Madagascar could provide a model for stemming deforestation. But first these efforts must deal with the poverty and political upheaval that threaten forests, reports Anjali Nayar.
Félix Ratelolahy and his team of field researchers are hiking through the dense growth of the Makira forest in northeastern Madagascar. Uapaca trees tower over them, with their spider-leg roots tall enough to walk under.
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Of course the ultimate cause of increasing poverty and habitat destruction which was barely alluded to in this article is population growth in the face of Madagascar's limited resources. But as was written about old Barnety above, "When he was a boy, he says, there were only a few families in Andaparaty. Now there are hundreds of people competing for the same land." Unless measures are put in place to limit population then the benefits of any increased food production (dependent upon increasingly expensive energy inputs) or any other schemes to preserve Madagascar's forests will be frustrated. Education of women is often quoted as the panacea to solve the problems of population growth but how long would it take to implement? And the world's limited energy and arable land resources have some nations (e.g. South Korea) apparently trying to lease arable land from developing nations, e.g. http://news.mongabay.com/2008/1119-madagascar.html This will place additional pressure on the poor of Madagascar and on the forests.