The Forests of Madagascar Do Matter

Abstract

"Madagascar had a rough start into the year 2007. After cyclones Anita, Bondo and Clovis in December, Gamede and Favio in February, Indlala cut across Madagascar just two weeks before Jaya came ashore at the northern tip of Madagascar at the beginning of April. They caused flooding, displacement, crop and forest damage, as well as other detrimental short - term effects. The cumulative impacts of these seven cyclones will be immense and hard to quantify. On average, there was more precipitation per day during these four months in 2007 than averaged over the last ten years. While the northern part of the island was suffering from flooding, an extended drought created struggle amongst the Malagasy people in the south, once more demonstrating how diverse the climatic influence can be even on a single island."