DEFINING AND EXPLAINING TROPICAL DEFORESTATION - SHIFTING CULTIVATIONAND POPULATION-GROWTH IN COLONIAL MADAGASCAR (1896-1940)

Shifting cultivators are often held responsible for deforestation in t he humid tropics. The neo-Malthusian link between population growth an d shifting cultivation negates historical considerations of the politi cal economy of deforestation in specific places. Using concepts drawn from regional geography and political ecology, this paper examines the role played by the colonial state in the organization of land use and agriculture as central to an explanation of deforestation in Madagasc ar. Almost three-quarters of the primary forest was cleared from 1895 to 1925 due to the state's economic objectives, ideologically expresse d as a concern for rational forest management and conservation. This c oncern prompted a ban on shifting cultivation. The Malagasy interprete d the ban as depriving them of independent access to subsistence and f orcing them into wage work. This case study demonstrates how ideas con cerning shifting cultivation and deforestation are political construct ions of various groups with specific material interests. A synthesis o f the political ecology and regional geography perspectives reveals ho w a consideration of the interactions among human groups, the environm ent, and social formations is central to a regional explanation of tro pical deforestation. Population growth and shifting cultivation practi ces cannot fully account for deforestation in Madagascar during the co lonial period.