STRATEGIES FOR THE USE OF PLANT RESOURCES AMONG THE VEZO AND MASIKORO GROUPS OF THE MANGOKY DELTA, MADAGASCAR

摘要

The Vezo and Masikoro are two of the 18 officially recognized ethnic groups in Madagascar. Both groups live in the Mangoky delta (south-west Madagascar), respectively along the coast and inland. Fishing is the main livelihood for the Vezo, while the Masikoro mainly farm and raise cattle and small ruminants. In spatial terms, the former live in an environment which is closely dependent on the sea and mangrove habitats, while the latter are dependent, a priori, on dry land where scrub formations predominate. Given this dual socio-economic and spatial pattern of practice among the Vezo and Masikoro groups, their strategies for managing wood resources and forests also differ. This article compares the behaviour of the Vezo and Masikoro delta groups regarding management of the mangroves and local inland formations, and the specific features of each population's practices in their use of wood and the different types of forests. The impacts of their strategies on the delta's vegetation are also analysed. For the Vezo, the mangrove is the main source of supply for wood. The Masikoro use the mangrove ecosystem to make up for the wood shortage perceived in their living environment since the early 1980s. This comparative analysis of strategies among the Vezo and Masikoro shows that dry vegetation is strongly influenced by slash-and-burn farming and extensive livestock rearing. In Vezo lands, the environment is still relatively intact and largely unexploited. However, in the zone where dry land meets the inner edge of the mangroves, trees are being selectively cut to a significant extent. The impacts of local practice on the vegetation of the Mangoky delta thus include shrinking mangrove areas, increasing tannification, disappearance of dry forest formations and increasing transformation into savannah land.