Fires in Madagascar
Burning on Madagascar
23 August 2005
Latest satellite scenes from fires burning in Madagascar:
People in Madagascar seasonally burn the grasslands and savanna-type vegetation of interior Madagascar as part of their agricultural land management practices. Over two millennia of habitation, human exploitation of the islands natural resources, including the imposed fire regime, has transformed the plant and animal communities of Madagascar. This image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASAs Aqua satellite on 22 August 2005, shows scores of fires (red dots) scattered across the island.
AQUA
22 August 2005
10:40 hrs UTC
(Image courtesy MODIS) 
Click on scene for a 250m resolution
Along the coast, the islands characteristic reddish soils run off into the ocean and disperse in a greenish cloud.
Though intentional agricultural fires are not necessarily immediately hazardous, they can have strong negative impacts on human health and natural resources.
For further information see also:
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The South African Working on Fire Programme
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IFFN Country Reports on Central African countries
- Recent Africa Updates
