Experts: Extreme losses due to indiscriminate plots of forests with reduced government control and lack of law enforcement
Middle East: In the context of the war that has ripped the Sudan, the environmental file is left behind the smoke of battles, the voices of exodus and hunger, although it is one of the most affected sectors and the magnitude of losses. Today, according to experts and specialists, the Sudanese forests are no longer merely a transient environmental degradation, they are transformed into a silent catastrophe that threatens the future of natural resources and the country ' s climate balance, at a time when the control and protection are reduced.
With the collapse of basic services, the scarcity of fuel and the high cost of living to unprecedented levels, thousands of Sudanese families have had to return to use firewood and coal as alternative sources of energy, resulting in a large escalation in logging operations and the depletion of forest belts, and internal displacements have contributed to increased pressure on forests, after large numbers of people have moved to safer areas and temporary dwellings within forest areas, in the near total absence of environmental control and law enforcement.
Freaky reality.
In the outskirts of Khartoum State, between the Sint trees at the Nilin Forum, Ayisha Abdallah, which collects firewood: «We used to rely on cooking gas, but the price of the cylinder rose to about £90,000, equivalent to about US$ 22.5, and we can no longer afford it. We know that logging harms the environment, but how can the family live without food?»I'm sorry.
In the island State, goodwill illustrates the magnitude of the economic hardship that has prompted many to resort to forests: «The price of coal came to about £105,000, equivalent to about US$ 26.25, which was more than the capacity of most families; therefore, firewood became the only option available to many people to meet their daily needs.»I'm sorry.
Sa ' adah Abdallah, a tea saleswoman on Omdurman Nile Street, states that the war changed its entire life after rising fuel prices and declining income sources: «I was using gas and coal in my business naturally, but prices are over our power today, relying on firewood so that I can make tea and keep working in these difficult circumstances.»I'm sorry.
Accelerated environmental imbalances
According to the Director-General of the National Forestry Authority, Musa Suleiman Musa, during the years of war forests have been transformed into a source of emergency energy, as a result of the disruption of electricity and the scarcity of cooking gas, official data indicate a deterioration of some 60 per cent of the Sinat forest in the island State, and 45 per cent in Sinar State, while others have been affected by varying proportions.
Sudanese Forest Manager Moses Solomon Moses speaking to«Middle East» About
And he said,«Middle East»The forest area in the Sudan is estimated at about 30 million acres after the break-up of South Sudan in 2011, equivalent to about 12.5 per cent of the country ' s area, and plans to raise it to 25 per cent, but the war has halted this course and has accelerated the drain.
For his part, the President of the Supreme Council for Environment and Natural Resources, in Khartoum State, affirms that environmental resources in the Sudan are exposed to environmental resources.«A massive and multifaceted attack.» Consequences of war overlap with economic, social and security crises.
He mentioned, in his conversation,«Middle East»The weak role of the State and the reversal of law enforcement contributed to the flourishing of the trade in wood, coal and timber, where modern techniques were used to permit logging and rapid transport through networks within and outside the country. «Between 70 and 80 per cent of the population depend directly on natural resources in their livelihood, whether through agriculture, pastoralism or firewood production; which makes environmental degradation a direct threat to economic and social stability in a country that is already structurally fragile»He also cautioned that indiscriminate mining within forests and natural reserves exacerbated the crisis, owing to the removal of additional areas of vegetation, soil and water pollution, creating complex environmental challenges that were difficult to contain in the near term.
In turn, the environmental expert, Awad Mohamed Siddiq, said that what was happening was beyond a mere consummation of resources and represented an accelerated dismantling of an entire environmental system, explained that the removal of vegetation was losing soil capacity to maintain humidity, and drove desertification to expand in already fragile areas, simultaneously with the disappearance of habitats of living organisms and the decline of biodiversity.«Middle East»Rural communities pay the price directly by declining agricultural production, weakening the protection against sand creeps and disruption of the water cycle.
For his part, Environment and Climate Change Expert Nordine Ahmed believes that forests are one of the most important natural resources in the Sudan, as they play a vital role in cloaking climate, protecting soils, providing food and shelter to millions of living beings, noting that large areas have been transformed into infertile land after they constitute a natural lung extending the environment to oxygen and limiting the effects of desertification and climate change, warning that the continued degradation of vegetation and humanity threatens.
Growing economic losses
In the opinion of the forest expert, the loss of heavy plant cover contributes to high temperatures, weakens the local environment ' s ability to absorb carbon emissions, and depletion of vital resources such as timber and Arab glue, where annual losses in the forest sector are estimated at about $500 million as a result of illegal logging.
He assured God, speaking to me.«Middle East»The immediate priority is to reduce the dependence of families on firewood, by providing cooking gas where possible, mainstreaming improved stoves and supporting solar solutions in neighbourhoods and displacement centres.
The consequences of environmental degradation were not only natural aspects, but were extended to vital economic sectors; in the Kurdivan region, one of the most important areas of global Arab glue production, production chains were severely damaged; and millions of people relying on the sector had a major source of income.
With the continuation of the war and the regression of State institutions, the Sudanese environment seems to be facing a real existential challenge, as the pace of depletion accelerates in the absence of protection and recovery plans, while environmental, economic and humanitarian losses deepen one day after another, at a scene of long-term consequences that may have spillover effects for future generations.
