By Abdelmonem Fawzi
Some of us find joy in spending time in the forests.
Backing this feeling of happiness are some scientific studies that point to the positive effects the forests have on physical health and mental well-being.
Forests are essential to our survival and well-being and help improve air quality. They extract a wide range of air pollutants from the air, such as particles and carbon oxides.
Africa contains about 15 per cent of the world’s remaining forests and is second only to South America in the amount of dense tropical forests that are the most effective in removing carbon from the atmosphere.
The problem, however, is that the African forests are threatened by over-exploitation, conversion to other land uses and climate change.
Many of these forests will likely disappear or be degraded to such an extent as to pass tipping points and become something else.
The Miombo woodland faces the prospect of extinction. This is catastrophic because this woodland is essential to the livelihoods of many rural people who depend on the resources available in it. The wide variety of species available in it provides non-timber products, such as fruits, honey, fodder for livestock and fuelwood.
This peatland forest stores billion tonnes of carbon. Should these be released, by clearing the forest, into the atmosphere, we will have unleashed a worse monster than we have ever seen.
It is difficult to imagine that such vast ancient woodland is at risk of extinction. Nevertheless, it is disappearing at an alarming rate.
Experts point out the importance of the forest’s roles as watersheds, defences against soil erosion and regulators of local weather conditions.
The importance of the Miombo woodland led to the convening of the regional conference on the sustainable management of the Miombo forests. The conference was organised by the Miombo Network. It aimed to capitalise on and promote regional partnerships for the sustainable and integrated management of Miombo forests in Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Botswana, Namibia, Tanzania, South Africa, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Zambia.
The Miombo woodland is tropical and subtropical grassland, savannas, and shrublands biome located primarily in Central Africa.
Adriano Maleiane, the prime minister of Mozambique, re-emphasised the importance of preserving the Miombo as it is critical to retaining ecosystems and climate resilience and for economic strengthening.
The Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa (CCARDESA) was founded by Southern African Development Community member states to harmonise the implementation of agricultural research and development.
Executive Director of the community, Cliff Dlamini, said the conference could not have come at a better time as this is when CCARDESA is considering integrating forestry and aquaculture into its programmes.
He noted that as research coordinators, CCARDESA is alarmed at the decline of the Miombo region from 2.7 million to 1.7 million.
“Land degradation, biodiversity loss, and increased carbon emission are critical threats to the Miombo,” he said. “If trees are cut, we will not have carbon sequestration.”
He indicated that the Miombo could not be managed in isolation from local communities.
Local communities, he said, must be involved in policy development and management of the Miombo ecosystem so that their concerns are addressed and suitable strategies designed to align with the community’s needs.
Dlamini informed the participants that there is an urgent need to use effective approaches, including participatory forest management and community based forest management, to transform communities and the Miombo.
He also referred to research gaps in the sustenance of the Miombo.
To fill the existing gaps and challenges, Dlamini proposed researching to fully understand the impacts of the different ecosystem drivers on biodiversity.
He also suggested probing the capacity of biodiversity to supply and underpin goods and services (current and future).
Dlamini further proposed questioning the patterns of genetic diversity of essential species across environmental gradients and how different land cover types affect the existing patterns of biodiversity.
Lastly, Dlamini suggested interrogating how biodiversity changes affect the availability and accessibility of resources to rural and urban dwellers.
Dlamini also intimated the need for modern technology, such as remote sensing, which can help monitor forest degradation, e.g. deforestation.
“These can also help generate valuable research data to inform management and ultimately contribute to ecosystem sustainability,” he said.
Among the presenters, Judite Kamoto from Malawi, highlighted that forests contribute to the National gross domestic product through employment and energy provision.
She stated that rural communities depend on forests for energy, a point that should never be overlooked.
Katani Josiah from Sokone University shared the strategies that the Tanzanian government has put in place to protect the Miombo, including the deployment of soldiers to guard the forest reserves to ensure that it is safe from unwanted settlers.
He also cited some policies the government introduced, such as putting a uniform price for charcoal to benefit the community economically.
Ketani also mentioned the initiatives, such as joint forestry management, where the government works closely with communities to preserve forestry.
It remains, however, to be said that we need to preserve Africa’s surviving tropical forests and plant new trees to replace those lost to deforestation. This can help reduce the severity of climate change by absorbing more carbon from the air.
We need to defend our forests, rivers and lands on which our communities live, which are indispensable to the preservation our traditional values.
Also, we should better protect and manage these ecosystems. After all, we depend on them for our survival.
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