INEFFICIENCY OF FORESTRY REGULATIONS AND MANAGEMENT APPLICABILITY ON ROSEWOOD (DALBERGIA. SPP) EXPLOITATION IN MADAGASCAR: CASE STUDY OF MAROJEJY AND MASOALA NATIONAL PARKS

Abstract

INTRODUCTION:Madagascar possesses a land of exceptional endemism for flora and fauna representing 90% of its whole wildlife, which can be considered as one of the highest rates in the world (Annik Schnitzler, 2015). By the splendor of its ecosystem, Madagascar was once called the Green Island. But this name is now changed into the so-called Red Island' because of the pressure of population on the environment (Bernard Moizo, 2011). One aspect of that pressure is the illegal exploitation of precious wood, rosewood and ebony. The rosewood known under the scientific name Dalbergia of Madagascar (Dalbergia. spp), for decades has become the main target of illegal operations. This rosewood belongs to the rainforest type. Rosewood has a lot of function; among the others, it represents the place where animals like Simpona, Indri Indri and many others dwell. Therefore, it is practically important to protect and preserve it against illegal activities, especially if it is associated with World Heritage areas, namely Marojejy and Masoala National Parks (NPs).Derek S. and Porter P. Lowry II acknowledge an increase rate of illegal logging in the SAVA region, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where abundant rosewood has been exploited and exported for the last decade ( Derek S. and Porter P. Lowry II, 2009). Confiscated wood has been apprehended in both protected areas of Marojejy and Masoala as suggested by various tangible evidences. (Patel, 2007). Besides, poor local people in the vicinity of the parks as well as several well-organized criminal networks have unceasingly seized on forests exploitation (Derek Schuurman and Porter P. Lowry II, 2009). It is illegal because the illegal logging is defined as the harvest, transport, sale or purchase of timber in contravention to national laws (John Innes, 2010). The Malagasy Law No. 97-017 of 8 August 1997 revising forest legislation has clearly cited in article 17 that, strict nature reserves, national parks, special reserves and protected forests in respect of international conventions as well as land and water areas defined in Article 2 are not likely to distraction (Ministry of Water and Forests, 2015) whereas the logging in question is operated inside the PAs. Environmental Investigation Agency and Global Witness has discovered the illegal harvest of rosewood is about 100 to 200 trees per day in northern Madagascar, according to the survey conducted in 2009 (Global Witness and Environmental Investigation Agency, 2009).This means that these woods are from Marojejy and Masoala, and also from the place around the sites. Thousands of trees are cut illegally, and tons of timbers are exported outside the country in the same way. According to the Ministry of Water and Forest, between 87% of the exploited forests, 60% is for the rosewood only (Brodbeck, 1999 cited in Randriamalala and Zhou). Currently, Madagascar is already suffering serious land degradation due to illegal operations inspite of the presentt laws in vigor governing the protection of forest. Since 2009, rosewood trafficking has never ceased growing. The number of exploiters increases, for instance, in 2009, operators were in total of 13, but in 2012, that number has increased from 19 to 103, or 542% (Hery F. Randriamalala, 2013). The vast majority of rosewood exploitation source, representing 98,5% of them are considered as illegal, according to Rakotondramanga, 2002, while Jerome Ballet et al. 2010, shared the same views emphasizing to an extreme but chaotic illegal exploition of such invaluble wood since the year 2009. Therefore, this present study aimed to, firstly, analyze the reason why the forestry regulation and management policies on rosewood trees are not effective and stop the problems of forest harvesting in Madagascar. Secondly, it proposes recommendations on how to protect the Protected Areas (PAs) of Marojejy and Masoala from illegal logging.MATERIALS AND METHODS:DATA COLLECTION:The data was collected in Madagascar. …