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Tavy
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'''The word ''tavy'' stands for the slash and burn agriculture practised in Madagascar. Tavy literally means "the fields so cultivated".'''
[[File:Ankarafantsika_National_Park_023.jpg|600px|thumb|none|Large fire in [[Ankarafantsika National Park]]]]
Tavy is a traditional Malagasy farming method to clear forest for farming land. Unfortunately, the additionally gained land can be cultivated only for a limited time and the farmers are forced to clear more land. However, where no trees are left, rain cannot sink into the earth. The consequence is erosion, washing the red earth into the rivers and making them "bleed". Although it is raining, the land will slowly dry out.
Madagascar has a very rich fauna and flora and many species are endemic, meaning they live and grow only on this island. Due to slash and burn, more and more forests disappear and therefore many species face extinction.
[[File:Tavy_001.jpg|600px|thumb|none|Burned fields en-route [[Mahajanga]]]]
[[Razia Said]], a Malagasy singer and songwriter, brings the subject of "tavy" and its consequences into her music and to the ears of the world. Income from the selling of her album ''Zebu Nation'' is partly used for reforesting programs in Madagascar, especially in the [[Masoala]] region. <table width="600" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0"><tr><td align="center" bgcolor="beige"> === Slash and Burn, by Razi [[Razia Said''']] === __NOEDITSECTION__
One day in May<br>
think of the generations to come
Don't we have a choice<br/td></tr></table>
