These pointers underline need to safeguard forests

Yes, we are once again having a go at the deteriorating state of the environment in our country particularly as manifested in the continued deforestation, a trend widely seen as defying efforts to reverse it.

It is tragic for a country to lose upwards of 400,000 hectares of forestland every year, but this is the price Tanzania is reported to have paid between 1990 and 2010.

This means a lot more than just the disappearance of natural vegetation, for the country’s forests are known as the natural habitats of tens of hundreds of a rich diversity of amphibians, birds, mammals and reptiles.

This is attested to by authoritative research findings by reputable international nature watchdogs including the independent, non-profit UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC) – the world biodiversity information and assessment agency set up jointly by UNEP, IUCN and WWF.

Now, IUCN provides public, private and non-governmental organisations “with the knowledge and tools that enable human progress, economic development and nature conservation to take place together”. Thus, ignoring word from these agencies as concerns environmental information, assessment and early warning would be perilous indeed.

We are told that nine per cent of the animal species found in Tanzania’s forests exist in no other country – and that over 6 per cent are endangered. This is not to touch on the 10,000-plus species of plants.

Forest cover accounts for a critical input into humankind’s very survival, especially in countries like Tanzania striving to catch up with those more advanced technologically and in various other ways, and hence the urgent need to stop its wanton destruction.

We need to ask ourselves why the laws we have in place have not combined well enough with the education and sensitisation campaigns we have set in motion to act as a deterrent in drives to protect our forests.

Could it be that, say, we have been advocating the use of environment-friendly sources of energy or fuel while forgetting that most of our people still have no option but to use wood and charcoal to cook and to light their homes?

Here is the cruel reality: deforestation fuels poverty, the rural poor still heavily depend on forests for their livelihoods, and afforestation or reforestation efforts can take a decade to make a difference. Just how we sustainably resolve this controversy is the all-important question.

For some years now, we have had national tree-planting initiatives implemented on an annual basis. But these have been mostly poorly coordinated and have come to little effect relative to the seriousness of the environmental challenges we are grappling with.

We are plundering our forests at break-neck speed and with delight, looking on with the least regret as they weep ahead of their imminent extinction if they don’t find a saviour. Who will spare them their trials and tribulations?

This is a war we can only win with a committed and well-equipped army moving with strategic precision from all around. It is a hugely demanding task the government alone cannot handle to satisfaction.