American parliamentarians: an ecological and political resolution on Madagascar

The United States’ House of Representatives is condemns illegal woodcutting, the traffic of rare animal species, and the illegal mining operations in the endemic forests of Madagascar. It, thus, pledged support to the concerned authorities’ actions and to the Malagasy people to put an end to this illegal devastation, and to send the authors of these crimes into court. 

The American parliament is encouraging importing countries to enhance their inspection   and surveillance processes to make sure that they don’t contribute to fuel the demand of precious wood stemming from illegal sources in Madagascar. They are also urging ebony and Rhodes Oil Plants based product consumers to check up the good’s origin and to boycott those made out of from Malagasy wood, until the constitutional order is restored. 

Politics 

The House of representatives congratulated the African Union and the Southern African Development Community for its tough actions against the anti-democratic forces in Madagascar, and encouraged both of them in their unshakable determination to drive back Madagascar to a State of Right. It firmly condemned the putsch operated in March 2009 in Madagascar, and pledges support to the Malagasy people immediately engaging a democratic and consensual process aiming at restoring constitutional governance leading to free, fair and peaceful elections.  

This resolution has been motivated by “the deterioration of natural resources occurred under the de facto regime, featuring deliberate and organized depredation of precious wood in the natural forests, including World Heritage classified sites as the National Parks of Marojejy and Masoala”. The farming communities being dependent on these resources, immediate and future threats are hovering over local governance, local incomes and food security. 

Exceptional  

Until October 2009, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the International Conservation and the Wildlife Conservation Society have been condemning the interdepartmental order, produced by the imposed administration, granting an exceptional raw and half processed Rhodes Oil Plants exploitation authorization. This measure was the equivalent of “a legitimation of the sale of illegally cut and collected wood on the market “. 

This exceptional authorization is a mean to “embezzle funds in the name of the protection of the environment”, and a legal loophole for more of corruption in forest exploitation. During the latest 20 years, with the American Government’s support and that of other backers, Madagascar had yet been doing significant progress to slow down the deterioration of the environment, managing with efficiency its natural resources and preserving its second to none biodiversity. 

The Great Isle has up to 150.000 endemic fauna and flora species. Three fourths of the Malagasy population are located in rural environment, and two thirds of it are surviving with less than 2 $ a day. These natural resources are vital to support Madagascar’s development. They are contributing to the economic development through the tourism at about 390 millions dollars per year.