 Welcome
to Sunburst
on theWorld!Digital Collections of Things Happening Under the Sun, Around the Globe Compiled and Edited by JoAnne Green
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Welcome
to Sunburst
on theWorld! Digital Collections of Things Happening Under the Sun, Around the Globe Compiled and Edited by JoAnne Green
|
|
|
|
|
Scientific research shows that forests are a crucial defense against poverty. A new study says planting trees is critical in preventing famines like the one currently devastating parts of the Horn of Africa.
Photo courtesy of VOA | Slideshow by JoAnne Green
Marianne Bach/World Relief
-- Kenya's Turkana region shows effects of severe
drought affecting Horn of Africa
The report was released by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) in Bogor, Indonesia. It recommends restoring and preserving dryland forests and planting more trees to provide food, fodder and fertilizer on small farms. “One of the main problems in the Horn of Africa and certainly in areas of southern Africa is the fact that most of the dry forest ecosystems are extremely fragile,” said Terry Sunderland, senior scientist at CIFOR, who is currently in Nairobi attending meetings on the crisis in the Horn of Africa. The drylands, he said, are not as productive as humid tropical forests. They are prone to soil erosion depletion after they are cleared, which makes growing crops very difficult. “There is a strong correlation between maintaining tree coverage and maintaining precipitation. There is strong evidence to suggest when trees are cleared, precipitation drops. The hydrological cycle changes,” said Sunderland, who added that when this happens, drought often follows.
One of the
major problems at the moment, particularly in southern and
eastern Africa, is the cutting of trees in the dry forests
for use in making charcoal, he said. “This is being driven
by domestic trade and is also a very lucrative international
trade,” said Sunderland.
Sunderland
says although new research shows trees have an enormously
important function in terms of agricultural production,
there is little incentive to plant them. “People plant trees
on land that belongs to them,” and in Africa much of the
land is owned by the state, he said. (Source: VOA News)
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Sunburst International Risk Management.
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Scientists Say Forests Are Key to Preventing Food
Insecurity
