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By Melaku
Demissie
Khartoum, Sudan, October 31, 2009 – The Horn of Africa is widely known
as a region ravaged by years of conflict, recurrent droughts, famines
and absolute poverty. It is beset by harsh environment problems which
cause poverty, land degradation, disease, human conflict, etc. It is
also affected by man-made catastrophes ranging from cross-border
fighting to human encroachments in its dilapidated wildlife and birds
sanctuaries as well as reserved parks.
While the region is in a dire situation regarding its natural resources,
climate change is already showing its strong effects on the survival of
humankind. If action is not taken immediately, the problem seems likely
to escalate dangerously in the very near future.
Scores of studies indicate that both Africa and the least developed
countries are considered to be particularly vulnerable to climate
change. That vulnerability is exacerbated by existing development
challenges such as endemic poverty; institutional dimensions; limited
access to capital, including markets; infrastructure and technology;
ecosystem degradation; and complex disaster and conflicts. The Horn of
Africa is particularly vulnerable to climate change because of the
overwhelming dependence of its economy on natural resources as well as
its low adaptive capacity. But this time around environmentalists and
civil society organizations are spearheading networking efforts in the
region by initiating discussions in a bid to mitigate the devastating
effects of climate change.
Last week, the 4th annual meeting of the Horn of Africa Regional
Environment Network was held in Khartoum, Sudan under the major theme:
“Rural and Urban Ecosystems Management.” The objective of the meeting
was to evaluate the overall situation of the region’s ecosystems, to
discuss the necessary adaptation measures and to prepare the Horn
countries (Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia and Sudan) for
effective negotiations in the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit, which
will be held in December this year. These countries are permanent
members of the Horn of Africa Regional Environment Center and Network.
During the course of discussions several papers were presented by
country representatives, which mainly focused on environment
conservation, resettlement and exploration of natural resources, status
of biodiversity, water scarcity, natural resources and livestock
improvements, waste and pollution management, botanic gardens, urban and
safari parks, wildlife and birds, water and sanitation, features of
climate change, and water quality of the Nile River, among others.
Dr. Leben Nelson Moro, lecturer at the University of Juba, Southern
Sudan, said that since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement
(CPA) between the Sudanese government and Southern Sudan People
Liberation Movement (SPLM) in 2005, displaced persons have been
returning to their areas of origin despite serious difficulties. Quoting
IOM’s reports he indicated that some 1.7 million people have returned to
their places of origin between 2005 and June 2008. He noted that some of
the returnees who faced the most serious problems are those originally
from locations of vital natural resource extraction.
According to Dr. Moro, Sudan’s oil development has expanded rapidly
resulting in an unprecedented economic growth. However, he said, most of
the local people in the oil areas feel that their interest has been
neglected. “Subtle displacement has continued and some returnees faced
difficulties in their original areas due to sporadic violence,
dispossession of farmlands, absent infrastructure, mounting environment
pollution and limited humanitarian assistance.”
He also expressed fear that the oil discovery, which was once regarded
as a “blessing” for Sudan for bringing benefits, may be considered as
”curse” in the future. “Development of natural resources presents the
hope for fast economic progress in Southern Sudan, whose people are
among the poorest in the world. However, it is also associated with
significant problems, which require attention by leaders,” he said,
adding that, the development of oil and water resources has been notably
linked to conflict and large-scale displacement, especially during the
1983-2005 war years.
Dr. Yagoub Abdella Mohammed of Khartoum University on his part presented
a paper on the challenges of return and rehabilitation faced by
internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Darfur. He said that virtually
the entire population of Darfur could be considered to be affected by
the war. The conflict has displaced more than estimated 1.9 million
persons from their place of origin, and forced more than 200,000 to
become refugees in Chad. Most of the displaced are accommodated in more
than 100 camps across Darfur; others have been moved to villages where
they have relatives or are squatting on vacant land.
Peace negotiations are progressing and a large proportion of the
displaced families are expected to return to their villages. It is
estimated between 20-30 percent of the IDPs may continue to seek
shelters and employment in urban centers.
“The task of providing shelter and infrastructure to those who opt to
return provide great challenges to the government, donors and civil
society organizations. The challenges are represented in destroyed
livelihoods, environmental degradation, provision of shelter and social
services,” he added.
The threat faced by one of the water towers of Kenya and Kenya’s largest
forest - the Mau complex - invoked the ire of Mr. Richard Rono, from the
East African Wildlife Society, who bitterly complained that currently
investors are invading the complex for tea development with a view to
make Kenya a top exporter of the product in the world market and earn
huge revenues.
Though the revenues from tea development are considered to be important
for the country, environmentalists are unhappy with the government’s
decision to give plots in the area to tea developers without an
environment impact assessment and without consultation with pertinent
bodies. Mr. Rono pointed out that the ecosystem of the mountain forest
is exposed to shocks and the environment will be degraded quite
alarmingly.
The nature and cause of climate change in Ethiopia was the other topic
discussed during the meeting. While presenting a paper on the topic,
Professor Sabine Troge said that her research was conducted in 13 sites
located in Amhara, Oromia, Tigray, and SNNP regional state. She
explained that the multiple effects of climate change were seen in
decreased cultivated land, decreased pastures and pond water as well as
an increase in temperature and uncertain future for young people.
“Climate change impacts are being seen in all sites. Increase in
temperature are leading to shifts in agro-ecological zones. Adaptation
to climate change needs modernizing farm or exploiting beneficial
impacts of climate change in response to the existing pressures,” she
said.
Ethiopia is better known for recurrent droughts and famines due to the
disturbance of its ecosystem for a long time. Land degradation,
deforestation, human encroachment in national parks and reserved areas
and improper utilization of natural resources can be described as woes
of the ecosystem of the country. Though the awareness on environment
conservation is growing in certain segment of the society, experts in
the field feel that it is not at a satisfactory level.
Representatives of the remaining countries - Djibouti, Eritrea and
Somaliland - also presented cases how showing climate change has
negatively affected their respective countries and the mitigating
measures taken to adapt to climate change pressures.
During the discussions the environmentalists gave due emphasis to how to
create mechanisms to engage in government policies and decision making
in their respective countries. They also complained that the problems
occur due to lack of appropriate government policies and weak
institutional capacities.
Highlighting the importance of a participatory process Dr. Araya Asfaw,
director of the Horn of Africa Regional Environment Center and Network,
said that it was important to be part of governments’ policies and
decision makings in order to protect the degraded environment in the
Horn of Africa. He indicated that the Ethiopian government has given due
attention to environment conservation and has enabled civil society
organizations to work with it as an important stakeholders. He
underscored that institutions should be strong to implement government
policies.
The issue of engagement in policies and decision makings has become the
most important element in the conservation of natural resources and the
environment in Ethiopia. Recently Prime Minister Meles Zenawi was chosen
by the African Union to lead the African negotiators delegation in the
Copenhagen Climate Change Summit in Denmark. And it seems the door is a
little bit open for civil society organizations to participate in
decisions of the government with regard to environment and related
matters.
However, members of civil society are still wary of decisions made by
regional states and some federal authorities to give to foreign and
local investors plots for agricultural activities near national parks
and reserved forests. They question why investors are given land in or
around areas where endemic wildlife, trees and birds are struggling to
survive from years of poor handling while there is abundant land in
other parts of the country. They also wonder why federal and regional
governments condemn environmentalists who voice environmental and human
security concerns with respect to the aggressively flourishing
floriculture industry in the country.
Though there is a growing fear that African climate change negotiators
may face challenges from their western counterparts at the upcoming
Copenhagen Summit, participants of the Horn Africa meeting in Khartoum
in their joint declaration supported African representation through a
single voice by organizing the continent as one.
Reflecting on the Copenhagen Summit, the participants said that they
needed to urge their respective governments to encourage people to adapt
to climate changes. The question of adaptation places a responsibility
on the shoulders of Horn of Africa countries in relation to water, food
security, diseases and other related factors. “Our position is mainly to
build capacity for adaptation packages in order to conserve our
environment,” they said.
Source: The Ethiopian Reporter, October 24, 2009
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