France, Feb. 15 -- Known for carved wooden homes and woodcraft recognised by Unesco as intangible cultural heritage in 2008, the Zafimaniry are being forced to adapt to survive.

For generations, forests shaped Zafimaniry homes, beliefs and daily life. Much of that environment has now disappeared, changing how communities live and work.

These questions were at the centre of a public debate organised in Antananarivo last month by the French Institute of Madagascar- a cultural organisation that promotes debate and the arts- on Zafimaniry identity in the face of globalisation.

Johnny Andriamahefarivo, the only magistrate from the Zafimaniry community and a former justice minister, remembers growing up surrounded by carved wood in his villa...