Minds of the Movement

An ICNC blog on the people and power of civil resistance

Angélique Razafindrazoary LAW

Angélique Razafindrazoary LAW is a Franco-Malagasy activist committed to defending human rights and the environment. She is the founder and president of the community-based association Razan’ny Vohibola, through which she has worked alongside local communities since 2016 to resist illegal deforestation in Madagascar. She also serves as a spokesperson before the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and is active in advancing women’s rights in Madagascar. Her work is rooted in traditional knowledge, community solidarity, and nonviolent resistance, with a focus on promoting community-led environmental justice.

Writings from Angélique Razafindrazoary LAW

Articles

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Vohibola, Madagascar: Resisting without Weapons, Persevering without Exhaustion.

I am writing these lines from a place where beauty and fear coexist. Protecting the Vohibola forest has been part of my life for years, and yet every day I wonder how long it is possible to hold out without losing oneself. I continue because giving up would be more painful than fear.

In eastern Madagascar, on the edge of the Indian Ocean, the Vohibola coastal forest is one of the last remaining intact forests of its kind. For local communities, it is not just an ecosystem to be preserved. It is a sacred space, a repository of memory, passed down from generation to generation through stories, songs, and traditional rituals. […]

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Vohibola, Madagascar : Résister sans Armes, durer sans S’épuiser.

J’écris ces lignes depuis un endroit où la beauté et la peur coexistent. Protéger la forêt de Vohibola fait partie de ma vie depuis des années, et pourtant, chaque jour, je me demande jusqu’où il est possible de tenir sans se perdre soi-même. Je continue parce que renoncer serait plus douloureux que la peur.

À l’est de Madagascar, en bordure de l’océan Indien, la forêt littorale de Vohibola est l’une des dernières forêts de ce type encore intactes. Pour les communautés riveraines, elle ne représente pas seulement un écosystème à préserver : elle est un espace sacré, porteur de mémoire, transmis de génération en génération à travers les récits, les chants et les rites coutumiers. […]

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