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Article: Madagascar's burning issue: The peristent conflict over fire.(prescribed burning)
- Article from:
- Environment
- Article date:
- April 1, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Heldref Publications. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Madagascar is aflame. Every year, fires consume up to half of the island's vast grasslands and thousands of square kilometers of its rainforests and secondary brush. (1) A visitor to this 587,041-square-kilometer island off the eastern coast of Africa cannot escape the signs of fire: vast hillsides blackened to charcoal, flames flickering on the night horizon, or haze created by distant plumes of smoke. These fires contribute to the rapid loss of unique rainforest habitat and the transformation and often degradation of woodland and grassland zones. However, they also are crucial techniques that the tantsaha-the Malagasy farmers and herders-use to manage their lands.
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