Hervé Rakoto Ramiarantsoa was a geographer, holder of a university “agregation” and Professor at Bordeaux Montaigne University. While being invested in reflections on the environment understood as a matter of social science, as well as on rural dynamics, his main field of investigation was Madagascar. His thesis, which dealt with landscapes of the tropical highlands, and his last published work (Biodiversités en partage, 2014) give an important place to the historical dimension in order to understand people in their spatial configurations as well as in their social identity. He conducted his research as part of the UMR 5185 ADESS/CNRS. He passed away on 6th September 2015.