Yearbook 2008
Madagascar. Although the country is one of the world's
poorest, constantly exposed to severe tropical storms, and
with about three-quarters of the population referred to
survive for less than $ 15 a day, Madagascar pursues an ambitious
environmental policy. The government has succeeded in
slowing the pace of deforestation, despite the rural
population's great need for new agricultural land. In June,
the government signed an agreement with France that a debt
of approximately SEK 140 million be written off and the sum
transferred to an environmental protection fund. According
to
Countryaah reports, the money
will be used partly to protect the forests with their unique
flora and fauna, and partly to strengthen the local
communities' opportunities to find livelihoods and economic
development without affecting the environment.
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