The Rainforests of Atsinanana | Teen Ink

The Rainforests of Atsinanana

July 2, 2014
By Writingbee GOLD, Kirkland, Washington
Writingbee GOLD, Kirkland, Washington
14 articles 21 photos 6 comments

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The rainforests of Atsinanana are protected locations in Madagascar. Most wildlife found there is either: rare or endangered, distinct to Madagascar’s unique biosphere. The poaching and logging is putting a serious strain on the plant and animal life. The reason this magnificent place must be saved is for Madagascar’s biodiversity. The habitat is complete unique to Madagascar and cannot be found anywhere else in the world. These places are under the “protection” of the world heritage convention but they are clearly not doing a very good job because at this rate many species indigence to Madagascar will begin dying out.

The logging crises will never end if we don’t take action to stop the degradation of the forests. ‘"The logging does not only impact in the northeast, but is spread across the whole country, particularly in the southeast and northwest," he added.-illegal logging document”’ The logging crises need to be stopped and if the problem is growing in severity that only increases the need to stop the growing devastation. The police force knows this is going on and yet they don’t have the resources to protect all of the protected areas. A possible solution for this growing crisis is to bring in outside help. Countries that were originally lending support to the preservation of these unique habitats withdrew their help after the government fell into disarray. “Since the beginning of the political crises in 2009, Madagascar’s foreign development partners have suspended most of the aid that was earmarked for the preservation of the environment.-illegal logging document” The government needs to get their act together and start focusing on the matters at hand. People need to start focusing on saving their ecosystem and not their governmental differences. If help doesn’t get in soon then these forests will no longer be there to save. Then there is the poaching that is also hampering their efforts to save the wildlife.

The poaching is posing as a serious threat to many endangered and rare species indigenes to Madagascar. “Over 300 tortoises have been rescued from poachers and released back into the wild.-wwf” If not for the world wildlife funds then these 300 + tortoises would be dead. “Radiated tortoises are protected, but they are under threat from consumption and pet trade.-wwf” These animals cannot speak for themselves and tell us what they need us to do. We must protect them or risk losing them forever. Some ways to stop the poaching of these magnificent animals is to place them all on protected animals list. If there are enough animal rights groups out there willing to help then it shouldn’t be wasted. There are people out there willing to help but they just need to know that there help is wanted. The poachers live off of these animals and don’t know of any other way to live. Times are tough in Madagascar with the government falling apart so maybe it’s time the other countries lend a hand with supplies and medicine. 80% of Madagascar’s wildlife is completely their own, so why do continue to allow this destruction to occur. These places are monuments their animals sacred why do people insist on destroying them and ripping apart the ecosystem for every place that sustain animals. The solution to both of these problems is pretty similar but not quit the same and many ideas have already been tried.

When you look at both of the problems separately and how to solve them separately the solution isn’t clear but when you look at it as a whole, the solution becomes clearer. The solution for the logging problem is much easier it seems then the poaching problem. Since the loggers have to make more noise and leave more carnage in their wake they are much easier to track down. The poachers on the other had don’t leave much of a trail and can’t easily be followed. The only way to track down a poacher is after the dead is done, when they are trying to sell the meat or pelt. So the problem is how to stop them. If you were to “rope off” the areas that would make it too much like a zoo. If you make it a national park than that doesn’t stop the problem it just means more tourists. The parks have already been placed on the World Heritage site and are protected areas so what is there to do. You need to increase the guards in these areas, bring in outside help. When this is done the areas will be more heavily patrolled and fewer people will try to make a living off the destruction of these beautiful places. World Wildlife Fund is striving for the protection of these areas. They rescued over 300 turtles and released them back into their natural habitats.

In the end, the rainforests of Atsinanana are very important to sustaining Madagascar’s biodiversity and unique biosphere. The animal’s indigenes to these forests are either rare or endangered and can’t be found anywhere else in the world. These areas need to be protected for future generations to enjoy. There are very few rainforests left in the world and they need to be preserved or the entire ecosystem of the world could fall out of balance and the whole world could suffer from our negligence. It is time to act and not sit back and wait for others to fix everyone else’s mistakes. Think about what everyone can be doing to protect these amazing places in their own homes and cities across the world?
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