In Memory of the Pallisandre
by Luke Dollar
June 25, 2005

Two years ago, the park service, gendarmes, and local military cooperated in confiscating two camions full of illegal pallisandre harvested from within Ankarafantsika’s borders. Pallisandre is a precious wood, similar to teak or mahogany. It is very dense, heavy, and beautiful. There isn’t much left anywhere in Madagascar. These camions, similar to our American eighteen-wheelers, were completely full of pallisandre from Ankarafantsika, already cut for cargo containers and export. Following a few greased palms along the way, the wood was just a few hours away from setting sail for parts unknown. The wood was 100 km from its cargo ship when the trucks were stopped just north of the Park. Though we can’t replant those trees and they couldn’t grow back for decades and decades, statues have been placed in the park commemorating and memorializing the exploitation and its subversion. The statues, made from the raw wood confiscated by the Park, are placed at the Park entrance and other vantage points near high-traffic parts of the park.