Wandering Traveler

MADAGASCAR | Tuesday, 2 July 2013 | Views [445] | View Smaller Image

This man is collecting wood to take back to his village. He not only depends on his rice fields for daily food, but also the trees for fire and warmth. When we talked to him about the infestation, he worried about the livelihood of the people of Madagascar. They depend on the land in many ways and can't afford to lose it.

Tags: wood carrier, madagascar, people, locusts, land, rainforests, livelihood.

A locust plague is devastating Madagascar, with billions of locusts destroying crops and threatening the rainforests. When I came upon these locusts I thought at first it was a cloud of smoke from burning lands, but as we got closer we saw the real cloud - millions of locusts sweeping the landscape. Two little children run through the field catching locusts in bags. Families were roasting the locusts as a new food source to replace the crops lost due to the plague.

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One of the locusts in Madagascar. While in Ranomafana National Park we saw a locust in the rainforest. Our guide, who has been guiding in the park for 30 years said he had never before seen a locust actually in the rainforest. If the locusts start destroying the rainforests as they have the crop fields, it would be disastrous for many endemic and unique species that are already suffering from deforestation.

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