The US House of Representatives yesterday passed legislation condemning the destruction of Madagascar’s forests.

Resolution 839 was passed by 409 votes to five. The resolution calls for Madagascar to restore a constitutional government after the political strife earlier this year; to cease illegal extraction of wood, mining and smuggling of wild animals; and for importing countries to intensify inspection and monitoring to identify illegally sourced wood from the country.

“The House is sending a firm signal that the devastating and illegal destruction of Madagascar’s natural resources will not be tolerated,” says Democrat Earl Blumenauer who introduced the legislation.

“Illegal logging not only does irreparable harm to the environment, but it destroys livelihoods. While Madagascar’s de facto government continues to use its endangered resources to boost its regime, Congress today joined the administration in calling for an immediate end to these practices.”

Earlier this year Nature’s Anjali Nayar visited a pioneering project in Madagascar that is attempting to protect one of the country’s few remaining forests.

Félix Ratelolahy, an ecologist with the Wildlife Conservation Society, explained how subsistence farmers have slashed and burned away the margins of the forest to grow rice while gangs have pillaged rosewood, ebony and quartz.

“It looks as though bombs have fallen on the place,” he said.

For more, you can watch a Nature Video piece on her trip and read her feature, How to save a forest.

Image: Anjali Nayar