Global Voices in English � Madagascar: The Undercover Investigations That Exposed Rosewood Trafficking from the Rain Forest
One of the consequences of the enduring political crisis in Madagascar is its punishing impact on the environment, especially on the rain forest that is being pillaged because of a lucrative illegal rosewood. The combined work of activists and organizations specialized in conservation and protection, and investigative work in environmental crimes and exposing corruption in natural resource exploitation and trade was instrumental in documenting these environmental crimes. The investigation conducted by various independent environmental agencies showed that the illegal logging of rosewood was worth $460,000 USD/day. The reports also revealed that the illegal trafficking was sanctioned by the government of Madagascar who authorized the transportation of containers containing the rosewood logs. The investigations were conducted for more than 2 years and started when the previous administration were still in place. The issue has only made its way into the political debate and the Malagasy mainstream media in the last few months partly because of the indisputable evidence collected and published by the agencies.
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