Word: madagascars
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Biologists have identified numerous "hot spots" where ecosystems are under attack and large numbers of unique species face an immediate threat of elimination. Among the troubled areas: Madagascar, where more than 90% of the original vegetation has disappeared; the monsoon forests of the Himalayan foothills that are being denuded by villagers in search of firewood, building materials and arable land; New Caledonia, 83% of whose plants occur nowhere else; the eastern slope of the Andes, as well as forests in East Africa, peninsular Malaysia, northeast Australia and along the Atlantic coast of Brazil...
...backing large, ecologically unsound programs -- a cattle-raising scheme in Botswana that led to overgrazing, for example. During the past few years, however, the World Bank has been seeking to factor environmental concerns into its programs. One product of this new approach is an environmental action plan for Madagascar. The 20-year plan, which will be drawn up jointly with the World Wide Fund for Nature, aims at heightening public awareness of environmental issues, setting up and managing protected areas and encouraging sustainable development. Similar aims should also guide the lending policies of the International Monetary Fund, regional development banks...
Shoumatoff's fourth trip took him to Madagascar, a spot that had intrigued him since childhood. Geologically torn from the mainland some 160 million years ago, the island once teemed with unique flora and fauna. Now, the author finds, forests are being leveled to grow crops, the soil is eroding, species are being crowded or poached out of existence. Shoumatoff does not underline his conclusion, but it is evident throughout the book: once an incubator of life, Africa today offers a panorama of possible deaths...
...Antananarivo, capital of Madagascar, authorities are making plans to spend $3.8 million on a new fleet of garbage trucks, a purchase long deemed too expensive to contemplate. Pakistan will be spending $3 million to help finance an experimental farm in Baluchistan province. In Bolivia the government has received $11.3 million to spend on a vegetable-seed production project...
Following up on Verges' theme, M'Bemba cited the 1947 murder of thousands of rebellious Africans by French settlers in Madagascar. "Can we judge Barbie after what happened then?" asked M'Bemba. "If there is a race that has been perpetually oppressed from slavery until now, it is the Negro race." When the Congolese lawyer said he had shaken Barbie's hand as a mark of respect when he met him, a murmur ran through the courtroom. M'Bemba snapped back, "I can understand your reaction. You have not lived what I have lived...