Madagascar passes rainforest protection decree
The Madagascan government has passed a tropical forest protection bill which bans the logging and trading of endangered rainforest timber, it has been reported.
According to environmental website Monga Bay, which has also published extracts of the decree, the move is in "direct response" to pressures from other nations, who have been urging the country's leaders to step in and protect its precious eco systems from illegal logging.
Illegal logging is one of the biggest causes of deforestation in many of the world's rainforests.
Specifically, the decree prohibits "cutting, exploitation and export of rosewood and ebony in Madagascar" and makes it clear that any people found to be involved in such activity are liable to be prosecuted.
However, the website noted that some are sceptical over the bill, as some "prominent advisers" to the Madagascan government have themselves been linked to logging activity.
Photographer Tony Smith recently spoke to The Telegraph about a trip to Madagascar to work undercover and find evidence of the illegal logging industry.
He told the newspaper that as well as the environmental cost, the human price of the industry is high.
Written by Kimberley Homer.
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