"Some strangers from outside our village came here. They started cutting ebony and they clearly had no right," said village chief Justin Zara, gesturing towards dead branches and freshly-cut tree stumps deep in the Madagascan rainforest.

"We asked for their authorisation but they said they didn't have to show us papers. They said they had police clearance and we can't stop them. They just took what they wanted."

Environmentalists say such scenes are common in Madagascar, a huge Indian Ocean island whose dwindling rainforests shelter some of the world's most treasured wildlife.

Last month police seized 520 tonnes of illegally logged hardwood from two ports in the northeastern Sava region after receiving tip-offs from local leaders in Ankalontany and elsewhere. Madagascan authorities suspect a major operation by a logging cartel seeking to export the wood.

Campaigners had hoped the scourge of illegal logging would be high on the agenda in this month's G8 summit.

But the Group of Eight rich nations have failed to heed calls for tough moves on illegal logging and will issue only a mild call for action at their meeting in Gleneagles, Scotland, according to a leaked draft.

G8 president Britain had been pushing for concerted action -- including new international laws -- to curb an illicit trade worth $15 billion annually.

But under pressure from the United States, the summit will simply commit the group to voluntary actions "with each country acting where it can contribute most effectively".

DYING WILDERNESS

The stakes are high for Madagascar.

Illegal logging, charcoal burning, and traditional "slash-and-burn" agriculture threaten to wipe out the thousands of plant and animal species found only in its rainforests.

The island's treasures include hundreds of birds, insects, chameleons and lemurs -- a cuddly primate found only in Madagascar and a distant relative of humans.

In an effort to halt the retreat of Madagascar's wilderness, President Marc Ravalomanana pledged to increase protected nature reserves to six million hectares (14.83 million acres) from 1.7 million (4.20 million acres) at a World Parks Congress in South Africa in 2003.

Last year, he slapped a ban on all logging for export pending the creation of the new protected zones. However, conservationists say little has been done to enforce the ban.

"There are a number of current rules disallowing logging concessions in Madagascar," said Frank Hawkins, country head of Conservation International.

"(But) it is taking a long time to get these rules (enforced). In many places the capacity for control is missing."

Ankalontany's villagers said they felt powerless to stop loggers. Laurent Tutu, president of the forest association of Ankalontany, said the cutting of ebony is taboo in traditional Sakalava culture.

"It is sacred wood. We don't even use it for building houses. Nobody cuts it except the priests who conduct traditional ceremonies with staffs made of ebony," he said.

"It hurts us to see our trees cut like this. The forest loses its personality."

But conservation groups say locals sometimes facilitate logging, sorely tempted by pay-offs. Poverty is severe in rural Madagascar and extra money is often essential for food.

"(Logging) benefits very few people. The local people who are employed earn little money. Ninety percent of the revenue doesn't stay in the community," said Hawkins.

Hawkins said logging opens up the canopy to invasive species, fires and human pressure.

"The secondary impacts of logging are much more important than the logging," he said. "The forest dries out and is vulnerable to fire. People come in and hunt the animals. Very often the forest ends up disappearing completely."

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