Latest update: 04/07/2011 

- environment - Madagascar - Solar Energy


Madagascar's timber mafia

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Since a military coup in 2009, many of Madagascar's most rare and precious resources have become primary targets in a secretive world of exploitation.

ENVIRONMENT
By Mairead DUNDAS

This week, Environment journeys into the depths of the Masoala National Park where timber barons known as the "rosewood mafia" have been ravaging the country’s natural heritage. China’s appetite for the precious wood is driving a trade rife with allegations of corruption. We head to the site of illegal logging with the help of a local villager who has previously chopped the rare timber.

Next we leave the coast and head inland to the village of Ampasipotsy. Here, French engineers have been developing solar energy as a solution to water woes in the island’s dry, isolated plains.

And finally, Madagascar’s marine life is one of the most diverse in the world. We travel underwater with a team of scientists from the Paris Museum of Natural History in a bid to uncover hundreds of species previously unknown.

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Comments (1)

Educate Yourself

by Anonyme - 07/07/2011 - 07:40

This is an ussue needing global attention. Trees and Plants most be taken modestly in order for them to coexist and have time to reproduce . #Respect

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