Ubuntu Times

China’s Appetite For Furniture Depletes Africa’s Rosewood Trees

Kizito Makoye

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April 22, 2021

China’s Appetite For Furniture Depletes Africa’s Rosewood Trees

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania — China’s insatiable appetite for rosewood tree species is still driving illegal deforestation in Tanzania and elsewhere in Africa, killing forests and sowing civil strife, Ubuntu Times can establish.

A surge in illegal logging is devastating native forests across the east African country, despite efforts by local authorities to prevent the forest losses.

Hundreds of tonnes of endangered Rosewood trees are being cut and smuggled out of Africa each month by timber dealers to feed a lucrative Chinese construction and furniture market, local forest groups said.

Armed Loggers

Armed loggers, usually invade forests at night, targeting, indigenous trees notably rosewood, which is on the verge of extinction due to rising demand, and ferry them in wooden dhows in the Indian Ocean across Mafia island ready to be exported.

Rosewood known locally as Mpodo is a target for a bustling illegal logging trade in east and western Africa due to a lucrative market in China and elsewhere in Asia.

With China’s local rosewood rapidly waning, illegal loggers and traders have increasingly looked towards forests in Tanzania and elsewhere in Africa to feed the $15 billion rosewood furniture market.

Charles Meshack, Executive Director of Forests Conservation Group—a national NGO dedicated to conserving the country’s high biodiversity forests said China’s rising demand for wood is endangering these forests and strain the lives of local Tanzanian communities dependent on the wood for a livelihood.

“We are quite certain illegal harvesting of rare forest species including rosewood persists, and urge the government to take stern measures to stop this trend,” said Meshack.

Lack Of Enforcement Fuels Illegal Harvesting

Although the east African country has an export ban on certain tree species including rosewood in place observers said lax enforcement has allowed illegal harvesting and export to continue unabated.

Across Africa, transnational syndicates are flouting local bans to exploit the remaining valuable rosewood.

Rosewood forests deliver critical climate and livelihood benefits to communities across Africa, reduce water stress, and support sensitive ecosystems.

Local analysts say the ongoing trade in those wood species greatly undermines the communities’ ability to adapt to climate change let alone fuelling local conflicts.

Tanzania has 33 million hectares of forests and woodland, but the country has been losing more than 400,000 hectares of forests a year, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.

The east African country’s dense forests found primarily in the southern part of the country are increasingly threatened by logging, agriculture and fire.

Livelihoods At Risk

Although many people in southern Tanzania rely on rosewood as a source of fuel and medicine, corruption and poor governance of forestry resources are allowing loggers to flout the export bans.

“We don’t seem to have adequate regulatory framework in place to deter criminals who are endangering rare forest species,” said Juma Mlingi, a local farmer in Rufiji valley adding that China’s appetite for rosewood is not only bad but also severely impacting the lives and livelihoods of his communities.

Dos Santos Silayo, Chief Executive Officer Tanzania Forests Services Agency (TFS) said the government is determined to deter illegal logging of rosewood and already remedial measures have been taken to conserve and manage forests sustainably.

Classic Furniture

First crafted in China as far back as 1,000 BC, rosewood furniture, or hongmu as it’s popularly known, has been fashioned into imperial-era styled furniture pieces.

As one of the world’s largest consumers of rosewood, the rising demand for wood in China is having a serious impact for endangered forests.

According to a 2018 report published by Forest Trends—a Washington-based non-profit organization with a mission to conserve forests and other ecosystems, rosewood imports into China increased substantially in the past two decades and were worth approximately $2.6 billion between 2013 and 2014.

Rosewood has rapidly become a hot cake in China, where the dark red and oily-textured species, used primarily for making classical Chinese Furniture and décor, attracts new wealth.

According to the report, the surging demand for rosewood has driven massive amounts of illegal deforestation, contributing to smuggling, fraud, corruption and ethnic strife in most African countries.

In 2016, nations meeting at the 17th Conference of Parties (COP) of CITIES, significantly expanded protections for rosewood species and hundreds of other tree species targeted by illegal loggers and traders.

Trade in valuable hardwood species, including rosewood—largely to satisfy demand for classical-style furniture in China—poses an increasing threat to tropical forests.

“Rosewood logging is illegal in Tanzania, but the situation on the ground is proving otherwise since dishonest traders still go after those endangered species,” said Mlingi.

From 2010 to 2014, China’s rosewood imports from Africa jumped 700 percent, and in the first half of 2016 alone, nearly US$216 million worth of West African rosewood was imported into China.

Chaotic Construction Fuels Climate Change In Zimbabwe

Jeffrey Moyo

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February 3, 2021

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Chaotic Construction Fuels Climate Change In Zimbabwe

Harare — His house stands out in the midst of water, with the entire driveway concealed under water, apparently with nowhere to step on, yet for 15 years, 50-year-old Jimson Ruvangu in Westlea suburb in the Zimbabwean capital Harare, has managed to evade censure from the city’s local authorities.

Ruvangu claims he acquired the piece of land on which he built his home through a local housing cooperative.

But climate change activists, even as many like Ruvangu are apparently getting away with murder, warn that illegal construction of homes and commercial buildings is fueling climate change impacts across Zimbabwe.

Yet, many like Ruvangu even as they dwell in the midst of wetlands, he (Ruvangu) is happy that he has somewhere to lay his head.

Slums rising — Makeshift homes are rising rapidly on undesignated pieces of land in Harare, the Zimbabwean capital, with pieces of land being cleared of trees prior to the erection of the temporary homes as people invade vacant land in Zimbabwe’s towns and cities, this fueling climate change impacts. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo / Ubuntu Times

“I have a home; that is what matters. Whether it was built illegally or not, that is another matter, but look, I am nearing two decades living here and nothing has happened to me,” Ruvangu bragged.

For climate change activists here like Happison Chikova, it is illegal construction that particularly fuels climate change impacts across this Southern African country.

“The haphazard construction of houses in the major cities and towns in Zimbabwe has contributed immensely to climate change in Zimbabwe. The unplanned housing schemes has contributed to high emissions of green-house gases into the atmosphere due to rampant deforestation and destruction of wetlands,” Chikova told Ubuntu Times.

As construction occurs on undesignated places, according to Chikova, ‘the destruction of biodiversity and the ecosystems reduces carbon sequestration as huge amount of carbon dioxide is lost into the atmosphere as vegetation acts as carbon sinks.’

That in fact has not moved illegal urban land occupiers like Ruvangu who claim nothing will move them, but in the eyes of climate change experts like Chikova, many like Ruvangu have brought more harm than good.

Harare illegal mansions — Hundreds of illegally built yet luxurious homes are emerging on undesignated pieces of land, with climate change experts saying this is often taking place on wetlands thereby fueling climate change impacts as the construction of such homes dries up groundwater. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo / Ubuntu Times

“The haphazard construction of houses in urban areas is resulting in increasing the heat in the cities, thereby creating heat islands. This is because the houses are not built according to the city standard as well as following green cities foot prints,” said Chikova.

He (Chikova) also said as construction is often done illegally, ‘the destruction of wetlands has affected local climate as the wetlands are responsible for cooling the environment hence increase in temperature.’

Apart from being a holder of a degree in environmental studies from Zimbabwe’s Midlands State University, Chikova is a student at the University of Edinburgh in the UK studying global food security and nutrition.

For Harare Wetlands Trust, a conservation group here, disorderly constructions across Zimbabwe’s wetlands have also fueled climate change impacts.

Rising illegally — Incomplete luxury spacious homes stand out on undesignated land pieces in the capital Harare, where climate change experts say trees important for retaining water vapor in the atmosphere for the accumulation of rains are wantonly cut down paving way for illegal construction of properties. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo / Ubuntu Times

“Construction covers wetlands with hard surface. The water can no longer seep into the soils to be stored. So, water runs off and floods on hard surfaces downstream. It is not available underground to keep streams flowing during droughts and dry seasons and we blame climate change when we changed a crucial landscape and contributed to climate change,” Selestino Chari told Ubuntu Times.

To him (Chari), ‘it is effectively an ecocide to build (homes) on something that supports us when we can build elsewhere. And where will all this built-up area get its water from after it runs off the hard surface down to the sea?’ Chari said.

Even the country’s top academics have weighed in, apparently irked by the growing climate change impacts emanating from rife construction on undesignated points here.

One such intellectual is Professor Johnson Masaka, the executive dean at the Midlands State University’s department of Land and Water Resources Management, who has spelt out the harm wrought by the chaotic constructions.

“Firstly, the unplanned constructions will necessarily require that trees, bushes and grasslands are cleared on construction sites. The vegetation that fixes carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas or global warming gas, in photosynthesis is destroyed in the site,” Masaka told Ubuntu Times.

With haphazard construction all over Zimbabwe’s towns and cities, Masaka said climate has had to suffer the results amid wanton cutting down of trees as people in illegally built homes have no access to electricity.

“Provision of electricity in such haphazard settlements is almost impossible due to legal requirements; so, people resort to use of fuel wood. Upon burning, the wood releases a series of global warming gases such as carbon monoxide and methane into the atmosphere where they cause warming of climates,” said Masaka.

But many urban dwellers like 56-year-old Hector Ruvende based in Masvingo, Zimbabwe’s oldest town, see nothing amiss dwelling on a wetland upon which he built his home two decades ago.

“Electricity will be connected to my home one day; what matters is that I have a roof above my head; of course, we use firewood which we buy from wood poachers,” Ruvende told Ubuntu Times.

Home foundation on illegal ground — A foundation is laid out for a home being illegally constructed in one of the suburbs in the Zimbabwean capital Harare, unlawful acts of which climate change experts blame for the rising climate change impacts across Zimbabwe’s towns and cities. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo / Ubuntu Times

Such actions by Zimbabweans like Ruvende, to Professor Masaka, ‘participate in loading the atmosphere with global warming gases.’

Yet even climate change activists in Zimbabwe like Kudakwashe Makanda who is the programmes manager for the Youth Initiative for Community Development (YICD), a youth civic organization, blame disorganized construction for worsening climate change impacts in the country.

“I think you understand that most local authorities have been allocating housing land on wetlands mostly; this then undermines the crucial role that is played by wetlands which is to service the water sources that we do have across the country and also to clean the water; by constructing houses on wetlands, it means the water being reserved or kept there will stop being available,” Makanda told Ubuntu Times.

For Makanda, chaotic urban construction of homes has in fact brought more harm than good.

“Cutting down trees so as to pave way for residential areas also reduces the amount of vegetation that is necessary to supply the atmosphere with water vapor and that alone then leads to less rains being experienced,” said Makanda.

To Makanda, ‘the major challenge is that most local authorities are prioritizing development at the expense of environmental consciousness and the way that they are apportioning the land is not being done in a well thought out manner.’

Yet for independent climate change experts like Gilbert Musungwa in Zimbabwe, corruption in the country’s urban local authorities has fueled illegal construction of homes, subsequently leading to noticeable climate change impacts.

“In other sectors like the construction industry, the issue remains a sub-issue and often overshadowed in the offices; whenever there is an intention to have some infrastructural development, oftentimes environmental impact assessments (EIA) are requested. It boggles the mind how some developments pass the required EIA,” Musungwa told Ubuntu Times.

A Million Livelihoods In Kenya, Tanzania At Risk As Mara River Fish Driven To Extinction

Kizito Makoye

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December 15, 2020

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A Million Livelihoods In Kenya, Tanzania At Risk As Mara River Fish Driven To Extinction

By Kizito Makoye & Zuberi Mussa

Rorya, Tanzania — At Koryo village, in Tanzania’s northern Rorya district brightly dressed women flock to the river with piles of their laundry bags.

Some of them walk for hours just to be on time to access an increasingly endangered resource: water.

Nestled on the Tanzanian border with Kenya, the village receives enough rainfall, but for some reason, the water doesn’t meet the growing needs of the inhabitants.

“We have lost six permanent rivers in the past two decades,” says 57-year-old Andrew Nyamaka a local resident, adding “When the dry season sets in finding water is a constant struggle.”

Endangered Livelihoods

Depleting water resources in this impoverished village highlight the worsening plights of people in the wider Mara basin whose lives are increasingly endangered.

Mara river degradation — Hippopotamuses usually suffer in the dry season due to water abstraction. Zuberi Mussa / Ubuntu Times

The livelihoods of 1.1 million people in Kenya and Tanzania are on the brink as fish are driven to extinction, according to WWF.

A new report by the wildlife NGO says the trans-boundary river is threatened by among others, unsustainable farming, deforestation, mining, illegal fishing, and invasive species.

The report, which examined freshwater biodiversity in the river basin identified 473 native freshwater species including four mammals, 88 water birds, 126 freshwater associated birds, four reptiles, 20 amphibians, 40 fishes, 50 invertebrate species, and 141 vascular plants.

According to the report, some fish species including; Niangua, Singed and Victoria tilapia are critically endangered and increasingly threatened by the Nile perch that had been introduced in Lake Victoria.

Birds Too At Risk

The report also listed some bird and fish species including Madagascar pond-heron, grey crowned crane, and killifish as endangered whereas the shoebill, and some crab and freshwater mussel species, are described as vulnerable.

Amani Ngusaru, country director, WWF Tanzania said the river is under huge pressure from destructive human activities such as unsustainable agriculture, tourist facilities, water pollution, and land degradation.

Gold extraction is one of the destructive activities — An artisanal gold miner displays his refined find. Credit: Zuberi Mussa / Ubuntu Times

“Several aquatic species have not been seen for many years and may be extinct before they have been studied,” he said in the report.

His remarks were echoed by Yunus Mgaya, professor of Marine Biology at the University of Dar es Salaam, who concurs with the report saying that the farming and irrigation activities have seriously affected the river flow and ecological balance of the basin.

“The basin is facing a bleak future that put the river at risk, unless deliberate efforts are taken to reverse this trend many livelihoods will suffer,” he told the Ubuntu Times.

As the world is grappling with rapid decline of freshwater biodiversity due to the changing weather patterns, WWF is calling for joint efforts to preserve critically endangered freshwater biodiversity.

Tourist Attraction

The Mara basin, which sprawls across 13,750 sq km is home to many plant and animal species. Known for its great spectacle of wildebeest and zebra migration, the area attracts tourists who inject millions of dollars in Kenya and Tanzania economies.

Gold mining at Rorya — A group of artisanal miners working close to the river. Credit: Zuberi Mussa / Ubuntu Times

Tourism plays a pivotal role in the economies of both countries. The sector provides direct employment to thousands of people and contributes roughly US$1 billion to the economies of Kenya and Tanzania.

The Maasai Mara National Park, for instance, attracts more than 300,000 visitors every year, bringing roughly Kenyan Shillings 650 million, or 8 percent of the country’s total tourism earnings.

Water Abstraction

As the only water source in the dry season, the Mara River, which runs through Maasai Mara Game Reserve in Kenya and the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania, has experienced erratic flow, partly due to the abstraction of water for irrigation and hydropower.

The basin and its adjoining wetland is under increasing strain due to farming, overgrazing and irrigation activities, which have affected the quality of water and the flow of the river.

Fishing and agriculture are the main economic activities and sources of livelihood for many people in the Mara basin. More than 80% of the population in communities around the swamp are engaging in farming and fishing.

Local residents both in Kenya and Tanzania rely on fish and other aquatic foods harvested in ponds, lakes, and rivers to get healthy diets for their families and livelihoods.

Rose Kasoka, a 44-year-old fish vendor travels far to buy a stock of dried fish to sell at retail price.

“I don’t realize much profit because I don’t often get Ningu which most customers love,” she said.

Reversing Deforestation

In the village of Ikoma, Waridi Mwita, a 51-year-old farmer, is busy packing soil into plastic seedling bags. She’s trying to plant trees in the hope to restore forest cover that has long been destroyed.

“People are very busy making charcoal, they don’t realize they are destroying the environment and are preparing for their own extinction,” Mwita told the Ubuntu Times.

Deforestation especially in the Mau Forest and dry-season soil erosion have exacerbated the effects of drought as the water level drops to its lowest ebb, consequently affecting humans and wildlife.

Indigenous forests have been logged for timber and charcoal burning.

“One of the reasons trees are cut down is to produce charcoal, which is a lucrative business in these communities,” Mwita said.

In this tiny village, perched on groves of banana trees, water was once plentiful. But due to spells of drought, most small rivers have dried out.

Wildebeests — Recurring drought spells have affected migration patterns of wildebeests. Credit: Zuberi Mussa / Ubuntu Times

“When I was young, my parents never experienced water problems that we experience today,” she said.

According to WWF report, the quality of water in the Mara River is also affected by domestic waste whose disposal has negatively affected aquatic life by reducing fish spawning sites and even clog their gills.

“Heavy metal contamination from mining activities is posing a huge risk to ecology and people,” the report warned.

Deforestation Endangers Kilimanjaro’s Tourism

Kizito Makoye

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November 3, 2020

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Deforestation Endangers Kilimanjaro’s Tourism

Kilimanjaro, Tanzania — As firefighters were battling raging inferno on Mt. Kilimanjaro, plumes of smoke belching into the sky captured the destruction on Africa’s highest mountain and its surrounding ecosystems.

The fast-spreading bushfire erupted at an overnight resting camp for hikers—provoked roaring flames that have destroyed one of the world’s richest and most diverse ecosystems.

World’s Tallest Mountain

Kilimanjaro, the world’s tallest free-standing mountain at 5,895 meters (19,341 feet) above sea level, is highly vulnerable to environmental degradation partly caused by worsening impacts of climate change and increasing human activities.

Rampant illegal logging, poaching wildfires, pollution, and beekeeping have encroached on the ecosystem around the mountain, thus disturbing a forest belt surrounding it, officials said.

The snow-capped mountain, which attracts thousands of tourists every year, is a UNESCO Heritage Site with rare plants and animal species.

Tourism is a cornerstone of Tanzania’s economy, contributing about 17.2% to the country’s GDP and 25% of all foreign exchange revenues. The sector, which employs more than 600,000 people, generated approximately $2.4 billion in 2018, government statistics show.

Favorite Tourist Destination

As one of Africa’s favorite tourist destinations, Kilimanjaro is known for its breath-taking attractions, including stunning landscapes dotted with wildlife, waterfalls, and rich cultural heritage.

However, activists are increasingly worried about the rapid shrinking of the natural forests cover.

“We must do something to prevent frequent fire outbreaks,” said Eliakim Meena, an environmental activist from Nkweshoo cultural tourism program in Kilimanjaro.

Illegal Logging

As the country’s best tourist attraction Mount Kilimanjaro generates an estimated US$ 50 million in revenue annually but is vulnerable to environmental risks, local experts said. Padili Mikomangwa, a Dar es Salaam based environmentalist said native forest and shrubs are being destroyed by illegal loggers and beekeepers, consequently disturbing rainfall patterns.

“The forest itself is the key element in this. It completely affects the amount of rain running off the mountain,” he said.

With less rainfall on the lower slopes, the snow on the summit is also shrinking.

Mikomangwa said forests that vanished in the past four decades on Kilimanjaro’s lower slopes — felled by villagers for charcoal and open farmland — were just as much to blame as rising heat.

Extreme Weather

The extreme weather currently experienced in Kilimanjaro is a surprise to many local residents, who are used to a cold misty climate.

Jacob Chuwa, 72, a resident of Moshi, told Ubuntu Times that the annual rainfall has been declining from year to year, affecting the livelihoods of farmers.

“We have never experienced such erratic weather before, it is quite surprising,” he said.

While trees play an important role in maintaining natural water cycles around Mt. Kilimanjaro, Meena said its forest cover is rapidly waning.

Fandey Mashimba acting Manager, (Seed Biology) at Tanzania Forest Services Agency said deforestation is driven by increasing energy needs as people are engaging in charcoal making.

“It is a huge problem and most of it is happening because people don’t have energy supplies so they are cutting down the trees to make charcoal,” Mashimba said

Government Intervention

According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), reduced rainfall and increasing temperatures around Kilimanjaro have triggered the mountain’s vulnerability to fire and deforestation.

However, the government is taking measures to fight illegal logging and to educate local people on the importance of conserving their environment.

“We have several tree-planting initiatives and local residents are actively participating in the schemes,” said Anna Mngwira Kilimanjaro Regional Commissioner.

Jane Masawe, who lives on the western slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, uses a traditional inter-cropping method in her farm to grow a mix of coffee, bananas, and vegetables.

The 47-year-old farmer is profoundly attached to the environment, for she knows her family directly depend on the natural ecosystems of the mountain.

Masawe, who displays a vast indigenous knowledge of her environment, has respect for natural resources.

“Most of the perennial streams flowing down had dried up due to deforestation in the catchment area,” she said.

Changing Weather Patterns

Rapid population growth, changing weather patterns, increasing deforestation have resulted in worsening soil erosion, soil infertility, and an increase in damaging surface runoff, which resulted in decreased land productivity and food insecurity.

To address those issues Masawe has adopted sustainable farming practices and land management technologies to restore productivity.

“I was trained to use bench terraces, to conserve soil and water. They help to reduce the slope steepness and prevent loss of soil downhill,” she said.

Of Energy Crisis, Beekeeping And Forest Conservation In Zimbabwe

Farai Shawn Matiashe

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September 16, 2020

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Of Energy Crisis, Beekeeping And Forest Conservation In Zimbabwe

Mutare, Zimbabwe — Growing up in Ngaone, Chipinge in the southeastern town of Zimbabwe, Ishmael Sithole (35) still recalls bees could not entertain anyone cutting down a tree near their hives.

He hated them for their stinging bite.

Then, he was a young boy, growing up in a family that grew wattle trees for survival.

He never imagined the idea of becoming a beekeeper someday, nor did he know the value of bees to conserving forests.

Only God knew his fate.

Sithole, is now a renowned professional beekeeper and commercial beekeeping consultant at MacJohnson Apiaries.

He works with Willett Mtisi (44) of Climate Smart Bees and Admire Munjuwanjuwa (35) of Honey World Zimbabwe.

Sithole nostalgic about his childhood and others determined to change the lives of their communities, the three have expanded the project to Dangamvura, a high-density suburb in Mutare—Zimbabwe’s fourth-largest city.

Their project has become a shield to the effects of deforestation.

In this area, trees have been cut down except where these beekeepers’ beehives are located and surrounding areas.

“If you try to cut down these Acacia trees, bees will come out to defend their territory,” Sithole told Ubuntu Times while applying few puffs of smoke at one of the bee hive’s entrance.

Bees are highly sensitive to smell — Willett Mtisi, a professional beekeeper, prepares smoke which they use to prevent bees from biting them. Credit: Farai Shawn Matiashe / Ubuntu Times

“Bees have a high sense of smell. They naturally feel threatened whenever they hear the sound of an axe chopping a tree within a 10-meter radius. They become defensive and go into a stinging frenzy.”

When there is an intruder bees have a natural chemical that they produce known as pheromone, that triggers the colony to be defensive.

Sithole, a member of the Southern African Development Community Apimondia Youth Initiative, said their bee sanctuary in Dangamvura, established two years ago, is serving a dual purpose-producing honey and keeping firewood poachers at bay.

Willet Mtisi dressed in bee suits — Willett Mtisi, a professional beekeeper, prepares to open a beehive at a sanctuary in Dangamvura. Credit: Farai Shawn Matiashe / Ubuntu Times

He adds that there is a symbiotic relationship between the urban environment and bees.

“This then offers an opportunity for biodiversity conservation as well as an opportunity for apitourism—where the public are afforded an opportunity to appreciate bees at sanctuary setting,” Sithole said.

The trio rescue bees in urban areas from ceilings, chimneys and tree hollows, and house them in the mountains.

A queen bee is the mother of most bees in a colony — A female bee, known as the queen, surrounded by other bees. Credit: Farai Shawn Matiashe / Ubuntu Times

“We are currently hosting approximately 24,000 bees of the Apis Mellifera species in three standard Kenyan top bar hives. We will be introducing the trigona hives to attract the trigona species,” Sithole said.

At the sanctuary, they were mainly targeting to protect Acacia trees.

“Acacia trees are a lucrative source of nectar and pollen yet they offer immaculate shade for hives as well as a beautiful aesthetic appeal owing to their shape,” he said.

Sithole said they are determined to leave an indelible mark in the annals of the forest conservation to last hundreds of years to come.

“Since the tree of this year is Adansonia digitata (Baobab), we are busy erecting a nursery so that we plant hundreds of this largest succulent on the first Saturday of December (the National Tree Planting Day) as well as on the 11th of December (International Day of Mountains). Some of the trees we are nursing will be visible and alive 700 years to come,” he said.

Albert Sabawe (24), another beekeeper based in Chimanimani, about 144 kilometers out of Mutare, told Ubuntu Times that bees protect forests.

“No one dares to cut down a tree near my beehives,” he said.

Mtisi said honey which will be harvested at the bee sanctuary in Dangamvura will be an additional bonus.

“Honey builds bodily resistance to cough, colds and other ailments. Provides cure for constipation and it is used in Hospitals as a surgical dressing. Asthmatic patients also benefit from honey as well as people with ulcers,” she said.

Ishmael Sithole holding various bee honey products. In Zimbabwe, bee honey is used for medical purposes. Credit: Farai Shawn Matiashe / Ubuntu Times

Zimbabwe’s beekeeping industry has been growing for the past decade.

“As beekeepers, we champion forestry preservation by protecting our sites through establishing fireguards in areas where we keep our bees,” said Jacqueline Gowe, a chairperson at the Zimbabwe Apiculture Platform (ZAP).

“We promote use of modern hives made from timber of environmentally managed forests.”

According to the country situation paper, in 2014 there were over 150,000 beekeepers in the country but projections from the ZAP are that the number has almost doubled up.

The trio are expanding their project to other areas.

“We recently introduced another sanctuary close to Cecil Kop [a nature reserve located 2 kilometers out of Mutare] and we are prospecting for further expansions,” said Sithole.

Zimbabwe is experiencing its worst economic crisis in decades with shortages of basic commodities such as fuel and electricity.

Daily load shedding has become normal.

In urban areas, there is a huge demand for firewood used for cooking as prices of other sources of energy including liquified petroleum gas are beyond the reach of many.

This has forced many people to cut down trees indiscriminately.

People coming from the mountains to fetch firewood — In Chikanga, a high density suburb in Mutare, people walk everyday to the surrounding mountains to fetch firewood used for cooking. Credit: Farai Shawn Matiashe / Ubuntu Times

The southern African nation loses 330,000 hectares of forests per annum due to forest fires, settlements or agricultural expansion, firewood and tobacco farmers who burn their produce after harvests, according to the Forestry Commission.

But bee projects are helping to preserve forests and are fast becoming a lucrative enterprise.

Beekeeping industry has been growing for the past decade in Zimbabwe — Admire Munjuwanjuwa, a professional beekeeper, looks at some of the beehives in his custody. Credit: Farai Shawn Matiashe / Ubuntu Times

Violet Makoto, an information and communications manager at the Forestry Commission said beekeeping is a forests-based enterprise that is lucrative and conservative.

“We have also discovered that beekeeping is one of the strategies for forest conservation,” she said.

Makoto concluded that beekeeping is a non-consumptive way of utilizing forest resources.

Looming Conflict As Loggers Scramble For Waning Forest

Charles Pensulo

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June 28, 2020

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Looming Conflict As Loggers Scramble For Waning Forest

Mzuzu — Around 1964, Malawi’s first Head of State introduced an ambitious project to turn one of the mountain ranges in the country into a forest. What followed was the planting of trees—mostly exotic pine—into 53,000 hectares of woodland, the second-largest manmade forest in Africa.

While the initial idea was to use the trees to support a potential pulp and paper industry, the government, later on, leased the forest through concessions to private companies and indigenous Malawians, both sharing 60 and 40 percent respectively.

But heavy harvesting in the area has prompted government to rearrange the agreements with the timber millers and on some occasions, suspended harvesting in the forest to control deforestation.

Mutual co-existence gone sour

Chikangawa forest lies within a mountain range in Northern Malawi. The Northern and Southern portions of the range are separated by a lower saddle of hills. The town of Mzuzu is located on the saddles western slope, and Malawi’s M5 Highway crosses the saddles to connect to Nkhata Bay, on Lake Malawi. The range is also a source of some of the rivers in the country.

Over the years, over 400-plus Malawian timber millers and some private companies have co-existed in the forest until recently when the former claims they discovered their counterparts were being given a lion share. Since 2013, the two groups have been at loggerheads with the government forestry officials backing the foreign companies.

Raiply Malawi official — Edith Chirwa, Secretary to CEO of Raiply Malawi during the company’s workers tree planting day on 2nd March 2020. Credit: Dalitso Chamwala

Paul Nthambazale heads the 35 member group called Reformed Timber Millers Union, a brainchild of Timber Millers Corporative Union which disbanded after government canceled their permits. After the group sued government, they reached a consensus and came up with a new agreement that is running up to now.

“After the government engaged us, we came up with various recommendations including forming a new agreement and that’s why we came up with the reformed group,” Nthambazale told Ubuntu Times in an interview. “Another issue was on the area of the land. In the new agreement, we are entitled to about 4,000 hectares.”

He however said despite their grouping employing 1,500 people and contributing to the local economy, government has been favoring timber milling companies owned by foreigners who were also given concession in the forest. He added the 4000 hectares of trees in their allotment may last in the next two years.

“Many people in Malawi buy from us because the other concessionaires don’t sell to the local Malawians since they mostly export. The people we buy fuel, food for our workers and spare parts for our machine from benefit from our work. So you can see that many Malawians benefit from us,” Nthambazale said.

He said in the current 4000 agreement, 90 percent of their potion is bare land; nine percent is composed of small trees and not mature for harvest adding that only one percent has mature trees.

Nthambazale recalled when they started having problems with the agreement in 2013. They were then entitled to 10,000 hectares of the forest but said the piece had only 2700 hectares of Pine trees and 500 hectares of Bluegum trees.

Less trees, more conflict

“The government told us that it was going to source trees from the other concessionaires because the government had no trees. The government officials admitted that they made a mistake by giving too much land to the other concessionaires.

Nthambazale said when the government started giving concessionaires to foreign-based companies in 1999 more trees were given to the foreigners with others securing up to 20,000 hectares land of fully covered and mature trees unlike them.

“And Raiply (one of the private companies) is owned by just a single person. Another foreign-based company was given 6000 hectares while the third one was given 4000 hectares. You can see that more than half of Chikangawa was given to foreign-based foreigners. What we are saying is our constitution says 60 percent of business should be given to indigenous black Malawians but what is happening is different and that is painful.”

He said they will keep on protesting until they see change not only in timber but other businesses as well where he claims foreigners are being given preferential treatment. He believes some government officials are cashing in on the resource.

“What we want is all foreigners should be given a piece of land and they should plant and start harvesting. That’s what we call investment. All the trees planted by our grandfathers should be left alone to the local Malawians,” he added.

But According to Director of Forest, Stella Gama, the 2016 forestry and the public sector reforms instituted by government allow the Department of Forestry to engage the private sector in the management of forests in Malawi under forest plantations agreements or concessions.

“This is normal but also of advantage to the Ministry to ensure sustainable management of forests, improved industrial forestry and also enhance forest sector financing. Since 1999, the Department has facilitated the signing and operationalization of a number of agreements with a number of private companies,” Gama said citing Raiply, AKL Timbers, Pyxus Agriculture, Kawandama Hills, and Total Land Care as having a stake in over 30000 hectares in the plantation.

She said her department has engaged the Reformed Timber Millers Union in a 6000-hectare concession and that Malawians have been awarded timber extraction rights on an annual basis through annual licenses.

But Gama refuted allegations that the government is favoring foreigners and said the problem is rooted in harvesting more trees than the millers can replace.

“Harvesting of the areas outside the Raiply Concession area has happened unsustainably considering that the licensees were harvesting more than what the Department could restore. It’s not correct to say that government is favoring others. It’s just that the mode of engagement is varied. Others opted for long term arrangements while the locals preferred short term licenses,” Gama said.

“The challenge we have faced with the annual licensing arrangement is that the local concessionaires harvest more than they have been allocated and consequently more than what the Department can restore. To address this, individuals have been requested to enter into plantation management agreements with Ministry so that they have rights to manage and harvest timber in the Viphya.”

She said the agreements were through open procurement processes and approximately 10,000 hectares will be under small scale operators.

“Each of these will sign an agreement with the Ministry and will have obligations and exclusive use rights which will have to be respected. The main objective is to ensure that the Viphya is restored whilst ensuring stakeholders participate in the process,” she said.

Clifford Mkanthama, Climate Change, and Biodiversity expert said the indigenous loggers need to follow whatever was agreed in their memorandum of understanding but said the current protests are disappointing.

“Raiply is being victimized by the local loggers who are harvesting from their concessions because Raiply has to manage its own concession. I think the agreement is when concessionaires are getting a piece of land for harvesting, they also have to replant. But the local indigenous loggers are not doing what is contained in the concession agreement, that’s something they need to look at and abide by since that’s what they agreed with the government of Malawi,” he said.

Disappearing trees

Mkanthama said there has been an argument that deforestation levels are reducing in the country but noted this is because people do not have trees to cut anymore and not necessarily because people have stopped cutting down trees.

“They don’t have resources to harvest. People are now scrambling for the little resources available and when it comes to timber in Malawi the land that has enough trees is the plantation,” he said noting that most of the 53,000 hectares of the pine trees have also been destroyed by fire and people.

“People who just harvest without replenishing through replanting have found themselves in an awkward situation where they don’t have trees to harvest hence bothering other concessionaires. This is where the conflict is coming in but also the construction industry is not shrinking in Malawi. Now, with expansion of construction industry, which demands a lot of timber and then the timber is not there, there is just so much pressure on the resources,” he added.

Zimbabwe’s timber riding to extinction

Jeffrey Moyo

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March 10, 2020

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MUTARE — At first, it was a dense timber forestry. Then came the 2000 land reform program at the advent of 76-year old Obson Nyahanga into the picture, taking over the once-thriving timber plantation. Now, the 140-hectare timber plantation has over the past few years become a shadow of its former self.

This does not worry Nyahanga an inch, however, surprisingly.

“What is important is that I now own the land which we fought for during the war. Why should you be worried about what is on my land?” said Nyahanga.

He (Nyahanga) is a veteran who fought in the war against British colonial rule during the 1970s liberation war.

Irked by their deteriorating standards of living, thousands of Zimbabwean war veterans like Nyahanga around the year 2000 stormed the country’s once-thriving white-owned commercial farms like the timber plantation he (Nyahanga) occupies to this day in the country’s Manicaland Province.

But, Nyahanga’s touch on the timber plantation was a disastrous one, which to this day has left no single tree standing.

Timber turns into energy source in power-starved Zimbabwe. — With rare or no electricity, Zimbabweans in urban areas have turned to timber for their energy. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo / Ubuntu Times.

Yet, Zimbabwe’s liberation war heroes like him (Nyahanga) still pride themselves even as they are not making meaningful developments on the farms they seized.

“How we use our land which we took back from the white oppressors should not bother anyone; I have used the timber here the way I wanted, even as firewood at times and that has satisfied me and I still own the land even as there is no more timber,” he (Nyahanga) said.

With many Zimbabweans like Nyahanga apparently unconcerned about the state of the country’s forests, Zimbabwe’s timber plantations are fast being rendered extinct, with officials from the country’s Forestry Commission protesting without any response from the culprits responsible for unleashing destruction on the country’s forests.

Firewood from timber common with motorists now. — Timber loads have become a common feature on vehicles in towns and cities in Zimbabwe as people contend with power woes while some ferry the timber for their carpentry ventures. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo / Ubuntu Times.

As such, Zimbabwe loses about 330,000 hectares (815,450 acres) of forests annually, according to Forestry Commission spokesperson Violet Makoto.

Soon, if not very soon, officials foresee Zimbabwe being reduced to an importer of timber.

In fact, last year in March, Zimbabwe’s Forestry Commission general manager Abednigo Marufu told parliament that unrestrained deforestation would see Zimbabwe importing timber by 2030.

Last year, Zimbabwe’s timber declined from 120,000 to 70,000 hectares due to illegal settlers on timber plantations, miners, veld fires and the chaotic land reform program, according to Timber Producers Federation.

Vendors turn to selling timber on roadsides. — Displayed unprocessed and processed timber have become common across towns and cities as entrepreneurs make money from felled trees that are hardly replaced. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo / Ubuntu Times

The Forestry Commission is a parastatal under Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Environment, Tourism and Hospitality Industry, with the commission contributing to national socio-economic development through regulation and capacity enhancement in the utilization and management of forest resources.

And so as much timber keeps being lost, environmental activists like Tony Hurudza based in Harare the Zimbabwean capital, said ‘there seem to be no respite nor efforts being made to replenish the vandalized tree plantations.’

“War veterans occupying some of the once-thriving timber forests even boast of using the timber as firewood, saying it’s theirs and nobody can ask them,” said Hurudza.

Sounding rather stubborn, Nyahanga even said ‘we don’t eat timber and therefore we have to clear more land for agriculture to prepare for each farming season.’

So, consequently, timber forests are fading fast, with it (timber) now being added to a list of commodities running short countrywide for many who depend on it like carpenters, for instance.

“It’s not easy to find timber these days because suppliers always say they don’t have stock,” Naison Gombe, a carpenter based in Harare, said.

An estimated 70 percent of Zimbabwe’s population of 16 million people reside in remote areas without electricity, with many having to turn to firewood for cooking, adding a strain on the country’s dwindling timber forests.

Timber remnants on the ground. — Small pieces of timber lying on the ground after timber poachers recently descended on timber forests around Ashdon Park in Harare the Zimbabwean capital. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo / Ubuntu Times

Meanwhile, forest and woodland resources now cover 45 percent of Zimbabwe’s land area, down from 53 percent in 2014, according to the Forestry Commission.

To Makoto of the Forestry Commission, ‘this is a pointer to major deforestation’.

But, she (Makoto) also said under Zimbabwe’s Forest Act, anyone who cuts, damages, destroys, collects, takes or removes trees or timber without a license faces a fine of about 100 dollars or two years in prison.

However, the bulk of resettled farmers who are war veterans, even with the Forest Act in place, they remain untouchable, according to civil society leaders.

“No police nor authority can stand up to war veterans who are plundering timber plantations here because they will be terrorized by these resettled farmers who claim they personally own this country,” said Claris Madhuku, director of the Platform for Youth Development, a civic society organization in Zimbabwe.

Could tree regeneration hold out hope for Africa’s vulnerable smallholder farmers?

Robert Kibet

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March 4, 2020

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Could tree regeneration hold out hope for Africa’s vulnerable smallholder farmers?

Homa Bay, Kenya MARCH 4, 2020 — With more than half of the estimated 2.2 billion people to be added to the global population by 2050 expected to be from the African continent, according to the UN report on global population, this rapid growth and its development policies, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa will inhibit efforts to alleviate poverty, ensuring food security, preserving the environment, and improving Africans’ well-being, increasing vulnerability to climate change impacts and undermine sustainable development efforts on the continent.

Staring at a crisis in which some 256 million people are facing hunger, and where much of its current discourse on food security is focused on increasing and expanding agricultural production, the African continent’s expansion in agricultural production is speculated to be at the expense of natural resources.

As one of the solutions, an ambitious program dubbed Regreening Africa, a multi-country project funded by the European Union is seeking to scale up evergreen agriculture targeting an estimated 500,000 farm households over an area of one million hectares by 2022.

The eight beneficiary countries; Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia, and Rwanda in East Africa and West Africa’s Niger, Mali, Ghana, and Senegal are at the forefront in restoring already degraded land to more productive use.

The project builds on the considerable experience in land restoration consortium partners which are World Agroforestry Centre as project lead, World Vision, Catholic Relief Services (CRS), CARE, Oxfam, and Sahel Eco.

“We are blending research with development and identify practices that are suitable for the different kinds of farms that we are working across the eight countries in East Africa and West Africa’s Sahel region. Working with research and development partners together helps us to be able to make decisions that are informed by scientific evidence,” Susan Chomba, Regreening Africa Project Manager told Ubuntu Times in an interview.

The project encourages the use of Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR), a quick, affordable and easy-to-replicate way of restoring and improving agricultural, forested and pasture lands by promoting systematic regrowth of existing trees or from naturally occurring tree seeds. It can be used wherever there are living tree stumps with the ability to coppice (re-sprout) or seeds in the soil that will germinate.

A farmer in northern Uganda prunes regenerating tree. — Stephen Tumhaire, a farmer in Chamkama, northern Uganda cattle corridor prunes indigenous trees on his farm. He practices Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) after acquiring skills on how to make sprouting trees regenerate. Credit: Robert Kibet / Ubuntu Times

Maxwell Ochoo, 32-year old father of four, quit his job as a community health mobilizer to engage in farming, a risky venture amidst degraded land in Lambwe, Kenya’s lakeside region.

“I worked as a community health mobilizer but when my contract ended, I resorted to try [my] luck in farming. It was a challenging undertaking with degraded land where none believed it would one day turn green,” says Ochoo.

After successfully practicing FMNR on his farm, Ochoo is currently a proud farmer as he is able to take his children to school, thanks to reliable income from his pawpaw fruits and a fish pond he established on his farm.

A farmer examines male pawpaw tree on his farm. — Farmer James Gichuru examining his male pawpaw tree on his farm in Aringo village, Homa Bay. Farmers in this region have found hope in pawpaw farming due to its ability to do well on harsh dry climate. Credit: Robert Kibet / Ubuntu Times

To minimize food cost for fish, I utilize calliandra — a small tropical legume tree he planted on his land, whose dry leaves are consumed by fish.

Farmers increase food security by retaining trees on agricultural land, by encouraging natural regeneration and by planting trees and other forest plants. For most of the year, herders in arid and semi-arid lands depend on trees as a source of fodder for their livestock.

Nancy Kemboi, a smallholder farmer in Baringo, a region characterized by constant drought also benefited on this simple innovative technique of protecting wildlings and pruning stumps that coppice so they rapidly regrow into trees.

Together with her husband, Nancy, through a capacity building on the FMNR skills offered by World Vision Kenya, she started regenerating indigenous trees such as acacia and re-growing pasture in the same field to cushion her livestock during extreme drought periods.

Africa’s indigenous trees coppice when cut, their stumps looking like weeds, but when farmers select the tallest and straight stems and cull the rest, trees rapidly grow.

Tree pruning where excess branches are removed to encourage healthy growth. — Florence Namembwa, a smallholder farmer in Chamkama, northern ASAL part of Uganda practicing FMNR on her farm. A beneficiary of training, she has learned to regenerate trees on her farm, which provides her with fuelwood. Credit: Robert Kibet / Ubuntu Times

“At first, the practice seemed [like] it would take long, but with patience and continuous pruning of the trees, benefits started to trickle. My children could not spend time having to fetch fuel wood mile away. I started getting fuel from tree branches, a product of pruning of growing sprouts,” Nancy told an interview at her farm.

Nancy’s children field soon started to contrast with the bare bleak ones of her neighbors. Her livestock started to thrive, with milk production increasing due to the availability of quality pasture.

“Before practicing FMNR, I used to get merely five-liter of milk a day from my cows, selling it to middlemen who used to buy at low prices,” says Nancy, adding that since her milk production increased, she now sells her milk to a nearby dairy facility.

A female farmer in Homa Bay mulches pawpaw fruit trees. — Juliana Aoko, a 52-year old farmer mulches pawpaw fruit trees on her farm in Lambwe. Mulching helps reduce moisture in areas where there is extreme sun exposure. She has learned to plant indigenous trees on her farm, which are adaptable to the climate. Credit: Robert Kibet / Ubuntu Times

Lilian Dodzo, World Vision Kenya Country Director says the decision to train and capacity-build farmers with simple skills on how to mitigate against the changing climate is such a big phenomenon in the current environment.

“It is important to build skills in our communities to find very simple and low-cost ways in which we can mitigate against climate change to be able to build the resilience of our communities,” Dodzo told in an interview.

She adds, “Our greatest interest in these activities is to see what it contributes to the child well-being. With access to pasture and more milk to sell, the income goes all the way to helping pay for children school fees, buy food and develop gardens where women can grow drought-resistant crops.”

According to Clare Rogers, World Vision Australia Chief Executive Officer, Nancy’s courageous move has not only changed her family but the community and farms around her area, with her neighbors starting to adopt the same approach after losing livestock to drought being an inspiration for the future.

“Nancy and her husband had the courage to try something new. They began to make the change happen here, and now her having to walk miles away to collect firewood solved. The changed landscape, availability of firewood and pasture means her kids can go to school,” she said.

“Women can change the world. This was not an easy journey but the fruit of the work after they did this was so obvious that it became very hard for people to deny,” Clare told a group of local farmers who had come to see the success in Nancy’s farm model.

Deforestation

China’s Appetite For Furniture Depletes Africa’s Rosewood Trees

Chaotic Construction Fuels Climate Change In Zimbabwe

A Million Livelihoods In Kenya, Tanzania At Risk As Mara River Fish Driven To Extinction

Deforestation Endangers Kilimanjaro’s Tourism

Of Energy Crisis, Beekeeping And Forest Conservation In Zimbabwe

Looming Conflict As Loggers Scramble For Waning Forest

Zimbabwe’s timber riding to extinction

Could tree regeneration hold out hope for Africa’s vulnerable smallholder farmers?

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