Vol. 7 · No. 1 · 2003

Mark Fenn and Flavien Rebara

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Forests are favoured areas for rural people, because they can be exploited in many different ways; consequently, their destruction may get worse from year to year. Many factors have been implicated in this deforestation. However, demographic growth is one of the most important, especially in developing countries. In Madagascar, in addition to the harvesting of various non-wood products (which has been going on for generations), hunting and gathering, the forest has become a popular area for not only pasturing cattle, but also slash and burn agriculture (both subsistence and commercial).The practice of slash and burn agriculture, known locally as hatsaky, results in the progressive destruction of the forest.