Hassan Hussein cuts down 40 trees every month to fuel hischarcoal business, fully aware of the impact his action has on the environment.But for the livestock keeper, the forests are the last remaining resource. Andhe is not alone. Hundreds of thousands of Somalia's traditional pastoralistherders do the same, putting their impoverished country on a path of heavydeforestation that risks turning large swathes of it into desert. "I usedto keep animals, but I lost my herd to famine and disease and am the eldest inthe family," said Hussein, 27, adding that he had 10 mouths to feed backhome -- two children, seven brothers and his mother.
Four years ago, Hussein had 25 camels and 300 goats. Now,only three camels and 15 goats from his once respectable sized herd are left.Every morning, with an axe slumped over his shoulder, he sets off in search ofwood for charcoal. Once he locates and cuts down a tree, it takes two days ofburning, and two more days of cooling the smouldering heaps before he can sellthe charcoal, at six dollars for a 20 kilogramme sack.
The village of Jaleo, in the northern self-declared state ofSomaliland, once prided itself on being at the heart of the savannah. Britishexplorer Harald Swayne recounted, in his 19th century memoirs, the adventureshe had while tracking and hunting "a large herd of elephants." Butthe last elephant was killed in 1958, and were Swayne to retake his journeytoday, he would only find the smallest of game in a rocky landscape dotted withshrubs and charred tree stumps. "Twenty percent of the forest hasdisappeared in the last ten years -- definitely this country is turning into adesert," Ahmed Derie Elmi, director of forests in Somaliland's environmentministry, said.
Charcoal burning has not always been preferred in Jalelo.Three years ago an outbreak of Rift Valley Fever in the Horn of Africa forcedGulf states to suspend importation of animals or animal products from theregion, forcing the herders to look for alternative sources of income. But itis urbanisation and a population explosion that are the biggest threats to thecountry's environmental well-being.
Somaliland's capital Hargeisa has a population of 850,000people, six times its population in the 1970s, which consumes approximately 250tonnes of charcoal daily. Elmi says that charcoal is the main source of energy,as electricity is rare and expensive for many.
In a bid to put an end to rampant deforestation, Somalia'snewly elected President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in one of his first officialduties banned all exportation of charcoal, in line with a UN embargo inFebruary. However, much more than a UN declaration and a presidential decreeare needed to bring the deforestation to an end.
Alternative sources of energy must be harnessed to cater forthe population, massive reforestation campaigns need to be initiated and someof the pastoralists need to switch to agriculture. In a country where thegovernment faces numerous challenges, environmental matters are not a priority."Each time I cut down a tree, I am left with a bitter taste in mymouth," Hussein said. "The future is bleak.... All the trees willhave disappeared."
