September 8, 2008
· Filed under Chile, My job
Santa Rita Vineyard
Climate change is affecting the cost of conservation not only in Madagascar, but around the world. Teams of scientists from Chile, South Africa, California, and Madagascar spent this summer trying to estimate the cost burden of climate change on conservation. We all met in the Chilean wine country with a science communications expert to hone and harmonize our messages for an hour-long presentation to the World Conservation Congress in October in Barcelona. The setting for our workshop was a beautiful vineyard dating back to 1880, with hills, birds, cacti, fountains, gardens, and lots of grapes. The Madagascar message sounds something like this: “Protecting Madagascar’s unique plants and animals from climate change requires not only protect existing rainforests, but also planting new rainforests. And that becomes expensive.”
August 22, 2008
· Filed under Madagascar, My job · Tagged Madagascar, My job
Deforestation of Madagascar
In January 2008, dozens of experts from the Madagascar government and conservation agencies met to create a plan for protecting the island’s unique wildlife from climate change. These experts recommended reducing deforestation in Madagascar’s remaining forests, and restoring natural forests along river corridors and between forest fragments to create escape routes for wildlife. As an economist, it is my job to determine how much it might cost to implement this plan in a few zones most important for range-shifting species. I visit the managers of natural reforestation projects and ask them how much they’ve spent and what they’ve achieved. I also talk to the managers of wood substitution projects, in which plantation forests are grown to provide a cheaper alternative to natural forests for supplying firewood, charcoal, and construction wood.
