The Zafimaniry people of Madagascar are confronting a difficult choice about their future as deforestation and globalisation reshape their way of life. Fewer than 15,000 members of this forest-based community live in the \u201cland of mist\u201d on the southern edge of the country\u2019s central highlands, where decades of heavy deforestation have left many hills bare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Known for carved wooden homes and woodcraft recognised by Unesco as\u00a0intangible cultural heritage\u00a0in 2008, the Zafimaniry are being forced to adapt to survive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For generations, forests shaped Zafimaniry homes, beliefs and daily life. Much of that environment has now disappeared, changing how communities live and work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These questions were at the centre of a public debate organised in Antananarivo last month by the French Institute of Madagascar \u2013 a cultural organisation that promotes debate and the arts \u2013 on Zafimaniry identity in the face of globalisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Johnny Andriamahefarivo, the only magistrate from the\u00a0Zafimaniry community\u00a0and a former justice minister, remembers growing up surrounded by carved wood in his village.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are a people of the forest. We live from the forest, so you see wooden buildings everywhere,\u201d he told RFI. \u201cThe door, the shutters, the windows, the chairs \u2013 everything is carved, and every carving has a particular meaning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These carvings express spiritual beliefs as well as knowledge and faith within the community, he explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Deforestation is forcing the community to rethink ways of living that once depended entirely on nearby woodland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEven though we stayed deep in the bush, today that bush has been cleared by deforestation,\u201d Andriamahefarivo said. \u201cWe have to leave and try other ways of making a living.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For this minority community living in relative isolation on the island, adaptation has become essential. Forest engineer and photographer\u00a0TangalaMamy\u00a0has worked alongside the Zafimaniry for more than 10 years, documenting their culture through photography.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThirteen years ago, there was no mobile network \u2013 you had to climb a mountain to get a signal,\u201d he said. \u201cNow everyone has a smartphone, everyone has a satellite dish. It\u2019s a normal transformation. The world is changing and they are adapting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Practical realities are also changing housing. \u201cThey are not going to live permanently in wooden huts when wood now requires travelling kilometres to find,\u201d TangalaMamy added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite these changes, TangalaMamy said many customs continue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEven in brick houses today, the ancestors\u2019 corner is still there,\u201d he said. \u201cOfferings are made there. When a child is born, the name is only given after the umbilical cord falls off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Zafimaniry are also known for distinctive cultural practices such as hair braiding, a silent form of communication. Seventeen types of braids have been identified, each carrying a meaning understood by the entire village.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The question now is how much of this heritage can survive as lifestyles evolve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some traditions are already disappearing, raising concerns about how to pass them on to future generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe must safeguard part of this identity that is disappearing without us being able to pass its memory on to our children,\u201d said Malagasy writer and newspaper columnist Vanf \u2013 calling on Madagascar\u2019s culture ministry to support preservation efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe should create a visible space \u2013 even a \u2018marketing\u2019 space, and it\u2019s not a problem to use that word \u2013 where one or more traditional houses can be restored and set apart,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat way both Malagasy people and foreigners can help pass on this memory culture.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Zafimaniry people of Madagascar are confronting a difficult choice about their future as deforestation and globalisation reshape their way of life. Fewer than 15,000 members of this forest-based community live in the \u201cland of mist\u201d on the southern edge of the country\u2019s central highlands, where decades of heavy deforestation have left many hills bare. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41072,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[257,27],"tags":[258,7,29],"class_list":{"0":"post-41071","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-agriculture","8":"category-deforestation","9":"tag-agriculture","10":"tag-apie-project","11":"tag-deforestation"},"yoast_head":"\n