Clear-cut forest in Madagascar

A now-sparsely populated forest was pictured Thursday in Madagascar. The area of Manantenia now lies barren and unfit to sustain crops.

The forests of Madagascar are among the most diverse and complex in the world. It's estimated that 90% of the plants native to that island are found nowhere else in the world. The forests shelter 75 species of lemur, almost all of them rare or endangered. You don't have to be a tree-hugger to be outraged by pictures like the above (credit here).