Conserve Africa aims to facilitate the sharing of experiences and information between environmental volunteers, campaigners and activists working to achieve a sustainable world by volunteering, campaigning, advocacy, education, community and global action.
Land degradation—the loss of goods and services derived from our ecosystems, such as soil, vegetation, and other plant and animal life—not only poses a serious threat to long-term food security but puts wildlife diversity in grave danger. Taking the form of desertification, deforestation, overgrazing, salinization, or soil erosion, land degradation can be caused by biophysical factors, such as the natural topography of an area or its rainfall, wind, and temperature; and unsustainable land management practices, such as deforestation, soil nutrient mining, and cultivation on steep slopes. IFPRI Senior Researcher Ephraim Nkonya and his colleagues have been working to increase awareness of this problem and to push for comprehensive action to address it for many years. His work includes a 2011 book, where he and his co-authors point out that limited awareness and insufficient institutional support are paralyzing action. They advise policymakers and the international community to:
decentralize natural resource management, invest in agricultural research and development, and build local capacity for participatory programs to ensure clear property rights, legal protection, and enforcement of those rights;
prioritize investments to scale up applied research, such as rigorous assessments of the economic costs of land degradation, and ensure collaboration across regions and among scientists, socio-economists, and policymakers; and
ollow models of influential global initiatives in related natural resource management areas, such as the Economics of Ecosystem Biodiversity study and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, involving all stakeholders in the process of global assessment.
IFPRI photographer Milo Mitchell accompanied Nkonya on a visit to regions in Uzbekistan, Niger, and Senegal where land degradation is particularly evident. It is clear from these photosthat humans are only one of many species that suffer the effects of this ongoing environmental problem.
Much like in Frank Herbert’s "Dune", a science-fiction epic about characters attempting to rule a planet torn apart by conflict, the issue of balancing desires for resources, and their impact on people, faces much of Africa today. The planet that serves as the stage for that story, a barren desert where control over said resources dictates human events, in many ways mimics the present situation on the African continent. Addressing environmentalism and conservationism in Africa poses a multifaceted challenge as the continent faces a myriad competing priorities and obstacles.
According to Tracy Bach, professor at the Vermont Law School specializing in Environmental Health Law who has taught at the Université Cheikh Anta Diop in Dakar, Senegal, “desertification, biodiversity loss, and rising sea levels” are just a few among the many issues with which Africa must contend. The responses to these issues have varied across the continent. Take Senegal as an example, where the government has done significant work to address climate change through inter-departmental committees dedicated to achieving solutions. Combining the resources of different parts of government has proven key since, as Bach put it, “climate change is so pervasive you need people from ministries such as agriculture, urban planning, and sanitation” working together in order to address it. An effort to save the coastal homes of N’Gor in Dakar, that lie just a half meter above sea level, poses a problem not just for urban planners or construction workers, since it impacts multiple industries affected by this phenomenon, from fishing to tourism.
Dire as it may seem, the present situation pales in comparison to the importance of the future of Africa’s environmental impact. From the high fertility rates across the continent contributing to rapid population growth to weak enforcement of regulations, obstacles abound. As it stands now, “Africa's fossil-fuel CO2 emissions are low in both absolute and per capita terms” as measured by the U.S. Department of Energy, yet dramatic change in future numbers remains a near certainty. Historians look back today and see the pitfalls of industrialization experienced in the United States and Europe, yet Africa seems doomed to repeat that trend. “Not reliving the same mistakes of industrialization elsewhere,” as Bach put it, is the main concern.
Today, various ways of addressing environmentalism in Africa exist. One prominently argued approach centers around Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, and how, as long as environmentalism appeals only to the higher levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy that most citizens in developed countries can concern themselves with, whilst ignoring the base needs that many in Africa have yet to meet, it will appear as nothing more than Western ideology. This, however, focuses only on the tip of the iceberg.
Though it remains important to tackle this problem at the level of local individuals, believing that this stands as the most important way to do so represents an erroneous approach. In order to effectively address Africa’s environmental impact, this challenge requires attention at the uppermost echelons, through the legislative branches of governments. Granted, legal systems in Africa vary in efficacy along a broad spectrum, with the World Justice Project’s Rule of Law Index rating Sub-Saharan African nations anywhere from the top third to the very bottom of the list of indexed nations. Regardless, the enforcement of laws, particularly those relating to environmental impact and restrictions, remains weak.
African impact on the environment, a complex issue, requires attention at various levels of society. First, not only must every nation’s book of law address more specific ways of controlling and moderating Africa’s growing impact on the planet’s environment, but enforcement of these laws must drastically improve. That, in and of itself, presents a mammoth task, as it will require addressing structural problems in many other aspects of government. Most Sub-Saharan African countries come in on the lower half of the most recent Corruption Perceptions Index, according to Transparency International; a sad fact and a depressing reality. Corrupt governments do not fix the very systems that could prosecute them; therefore, improving the leadership of governments remains paramount. Many African states elect governments via a direct democracy, meaning that, in theory, people vote to select their leaders, though this often falls short in practice.
The key to addressing Africa’s lack of a legal framework therefore lies in the people electing better governments. This requires improved education. For any feasible solution to Africa’s future environmental impact on this planet to exist, education of the population presents a vital first step, which can help lead to better governments being elected, which can in turn foster stronger judicial systems and better enforcement of laws in all sectors. One cannot approach Africa’s environmental effects on the Earth in the future as an isolated problem. For any feasible long-term solution, entire systems of government must improve, and ameliorated environmental laws will result.
Frank Herbert’s "Dune", which ultimately centers around the uneasy balance between the environment, its resources, and the people on a small planet far, far away, mirrors the uncertain future of African environmentalism. It will take a sacrifice of short term goals for long term ones, a willingness to compromise, and motivation to work past the mind-numbingly tedious African bureaucracies that have retarded development for so long. One other thing about "Dune": It has a happy ending. Only time will tell if this can one day be accomplished on this continent.
Works Cited
Bach, Tracy. Personal interview. 26 Apr. 2013.
Boden, T.A., G. Marland, and R.J. Andres. 2011. Global, Regional, and National Fossil-Fuel CO2 Emissions. Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy, Oak Ridge, Tenn., U.S.A. doi 10.3334/CDIAC/00001_V2011
2013-05-26 NRMI: NATURAL RESOURCE MONITORING ITEMS OF INTEREST
This Issue:GIS RS Tutorialsand Some Other Good Things
BUT FIRST, WON’T YOU PLEASE HELP? Terrestrial LiDAR and Urban Trees. Luiz Octavio de Lima Pedreira is seeking data about the use of land-based LIDAR scanning to determine the volume of standing trees, with emphasis in street trees. If you can help, please contact Luiz at lopedreira@yahoo.com.br.
GIS RS TUTORIALS – This past January, I had a request for GIS and Remote Sensing Tutorials. Here are some sites that may be of interest.
UNECE. 2013. Forest and Economic Development: A Driver for the Green Economy in the ECE Region. Geneva Timber and Forest Study Paper 31. 60 p. For a copy, contact info.ECE-FAOforests@unece.org.
Forestry Notes - Access the latest issue by the National Association of Conservation Districts at http://www.nacdnet.org/news/publications/forestrynotes. Forestry Notes is always looking for good stories and leads, particularly examples of district projects, partnerships, solutions to challenges, or opportunities that others may want to copy. Contributions and ideas must be submitted by the 15th of the month preceding the month of publication. (e.g. stories for the August issue must be submitted by July 15). Stories and leads can be sent to the Forestry Notes Editorial Board at forestrynotes@email.nacdnet.org.
Geographic Information Systems Stack Exchange - GIS Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for cartographers, geographers and GIS professionals. It's built and run by you as part of the Stack Exchange network of Q&A sites. See http://gis.stackexchange.com/about \
PhD student position on land use change, ecosystem services and biodiversity - The Institute for Environmental Studies in Amsterdam offers an exciting PhD student position on land use change, ecosystem services and biodiversity. For information see: http://www.vu.nl/nl/werken-bij-de-vu/vacatures/2013/084.asp We accept applications until June 10th. From Artur Gil, Applied GIS RS List.
World Forest Institute International Fellowship Program.-The award-winning WFI Fellowship program brings professionals in natural resources to conduct a practical research project at the World Forestry Center. In addition to projects, Fellows participate in weekly field trips, interviews and site visits to Northwest forestry organizations, research labs, universities, public and private timberlands, trade associations, mills, and corporations. The Fellowship is a unique opportunity to learn about sustainable forestry from the Pacific Northwest forestry sector, and to work with colleagues from around the world. The Fellowship program offers partial scholarships through the Harry A. Merlo Foundation, but all applicants must be able to cover at least 50% of the program fee. Over 100 Fellows from 30 countries have participated to date. Details at www.wfi.worldforestry.org/index/international-fellowship.html.
