25 Mar 2018

Owing to high indiscriminate cutting of trees for infrastructure development, agricultural expansion and unsustainable harvesting of vegetation resources for livelihoods development,  it is imperative to accelerate afforestation and reforestation to mitigate its effects.

Department of Forestry and Range Resources (DFRR) coordinator for Ghanzi District, Ms Keamogetse Tselakgosi said this  during the  International Day of Forest, which was hosted by Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) in collaboration with DFRR in Ghanzi recently.

Ms Tselakgosi  said more than 80 per cent of people living in rural areas in Botswana, derive their livelihoods from trees for fuel, wild foods, fodder, medicine, crafts and construction materials. 

“These priceless ecological, economic, social and health benefits leads to unsustainable utilisation of the valuable resource and continue to accelerate at an alarming rate and have increased significantly in recent years, amplified by high levels of poverty, which exerts high pressure on wood resources for energy around major towns and villages,” she said. 

Therefore, Ms Tselakgosi said it was imperative that the trend was slowed down and or reversed by accelerated planting of trees for sustainable environmental conservation and balancing of ecosystem.

She said in September 2015, world leaders adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end all forms of poverty, fight inequalities and tackle climate change, while ensuring that no one is left behind.

“Amongst those is SDG 15 to sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation, halt biodiversity loss. Our country is by nature semi-arid, with our district of Ghanzi located in the Kalahari desert characterised by sparse vegetation, low rainfall and high temperature,” she said. 

Due to these challenges, she said Ghanzi District was one of the hardest hit by effects of desertification and climate change and should therefore take a leading role in contributing to SDG 15 on sustainable forest management to our vulnerable ecosystems for future generations.

She said that it was the responsibility of all to plant trees for benefit of future generations.

“Let us learn from China, who are building an incredibly beautiful forest city expected to be completed in 2020. Schools, offices, hospitals and homes will be covered in one million trees and plants that will absorb 10 000 tons of carbon dioxide...”

The theme for this year, Forests and sustainable cities, she said meant that forests were key to continuation of human life in cities as they needed ecosystem services for their survival. END