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Thomas Elmqvist and colleagues from Sweden's Stockholm University studied satellite images taken between 1984 and 2000 AD of 2125 square miles (5500 square kilometers) of tropical dry forest in southern Madagascar (see Figure 61). They found the forest area declined by 7% over this time. However, looking at images from 1993 to 2000 AD, they were surprised to find that the forest appears to be recovering, increasing by 4% over these 7 years. To discover the driving force behind the forest's regeneration, in May 2002 and January 2004, Elmqvist's team went to the area studied using satellite images. "We were surprised to find that areas that were suffering most from deforestation had the lowest population density and were far from markets," says Elmqvist. Those areas with stable forest cover were heavily populated, going against conventional wisdom, which says deforestation happens around human settlements.3.273
Figure 61. Researchers found that the dry forest in southern Madagascar is more stable than previously thought. (Image: Thomas Elmqvist)
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paradoxes