Wanted, Grown, Growing and Alive: Forests

Written by Christiana Charles-Iyoha

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Forests management and conservation remains for now the most cost effective means of managing the effects of greenhouse gas emissions on the environment.  Significantly, tropical forests which are globally acclaimed to absorb nearly a fifth of carbon emissions released by fossil fuels each year (Nature, February 2009) store much more carbon than they produce in biomass or soil. These same forests also cool the atmosphere by putting moisture into the atmosphere through evapotranspiration (See the Annual State of the World's Forests).  Sometimes referred to as Africa's Carbon Sink, Africa's tropical forests though the most productive "carbon sinks" also play a vital role in regulating both temperature and rainfall, critical factors in Africa’s 90% rain fed subsistence agriculture that employs about 60% of the population in addition to providing staple food for the population as well as cash crops for export.

This article addresses the life threatening issue of deforestation in Africa on account of logging timber for export, conversion of tropical forests to agricultural land, mining housing and industrialisation.

Let’s face reality and tell ourselves some home truths. This region is home to poverty; therefore tropical forests in spite of legislation will be logged for timber, converted to agricultural land, housing and industrialisation albeit in varying degrees in different communities and countries. Responses to this threat should encompass providing locally relevant and applicable alternatives.

1.      Heighten the tree planting campaign to grow forests campaign with incentives. Trees are often planted but not nurtured. But if communities commit to growing forests and would facilitate carbon credits for their countries through such measures, they will be less reluctant to sell their timber and lose their forests.

2.      Heighten on-going save existing forests campaign

3.      Research into speeding the growth period of trees

4.      Celebrate tree nurseries

5.      Reintroduce and make fashionable the tradition in some parts of Africa of planting a tree to celebrate the birth of a child or the demise of a loved one or even the commemoration of significant events in families and communities.

6.      Donald Trump loves trees and buys grown trees to plant in golf courses and other estates. We need a critical mass of Donald Trumps to reclaim forests that are about to be converted to agricultural land, housing and industrialisation by buying the trees and moving them where they are needed – green belts in cities and communities.

7.      City dwellers should plant economic and fruit trees behind their houses

8.      Declare the Amazon and Congo basins world heritage sites with full global protection thereby making deforestation activities for whatever reasons crimes against humanity.

While this is not an exhaustive list of applicable alternatives, strategically targeted reforestation activities can spark off a much needed grow forests campaign, culminating in a heightening and scaling up of the plant a tree campaign. Indeed trees do get planted but how many are nurtured to maturity? However, the grow forests campaign will ensure that trees planted actually grow to maturity and governments and communities can apportion land for such purposes.