Africans wage battle to restore forests

With the threat that climate change poses to Africa, people across the continent are taking part in initiatives to restore forest cover and combat land degradation.

According to the African Forest Forum, a nongovernmental organization in Nairobi, Kenya, the continent is losing its forests at a faster pace than in other parts of the world. It lost about 3.9 million hectares of forest cover a year between 2010 and 2020.

But efforts are being made across the continent to restore the forest cover, which now stands at 637 million hectares, representing 16 percent of the world's total forest area.

Greenway International Foundation, a youth-driven environmental organization in Ghana, plans to plant 50 million trees across sub-Saharan Africa by 2030, through partnerships with environmentalists. The program kicked off in June last year. Remarkable progress has been made in less than a year.

According to Michael Olusanya, the organization's director, the exercise saw the planting of 2.7 million trees in a single day. "The government plans to have an annual Green Ghana Day, with an aim to plant 100 million trees by 2024," he said.

Olusanya said his organization is working with young environmentalists and environmental groups in Togo, Nigeria, Cape Verde, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Cameroon and Burkina Faso.

In addition to tree planting, the organization also provides alternative solutions to the problem of single-use plastic and engages in awareness campaigns and research.

Kenya sets target

Kenya, with 8.8 percent of its territory forested, has set a target to achieve cover of 10 percent by the end of this year.

Toward that end, the Kenya Association of Manufacturers this month entered into a partnership with the Kenya Forest Service to rehabilitate 10,000 hectares of degraded forest areas across the country.

"We must all collaborate to sustainably restore and conserve our environment. A sustainable environment is key in driving manufacturing growth," said Julius Kamau, the chief conservator of forests for the Kenya Forest Service.

Phyllis Wakiaga, the chief executive of the Kenya Association of Manufacturers, said the cooperation will enable the association to implement the Forestry Business Sustainability Action Plan, which was announced last year.

Other restoration programs across Africa include those for mangrove areas in Tanzania, Kenya and Mozambique.

In 2020, Nigeria launched the Mangrove for Life project to increase mangrove cover to at least 25 percent.

Thirty-two African countries have signed on to the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative, which aims to restore 100 million hectares by 2030.

The Green Wall, an African-led movement, plans to plant trees across an 8,000-kilometer front spanning the width of the continent. It is already bringing life back to Africa's degraded landscapes.

According to Djibril S. Dayamba, senior program officer at the African Forest Forum, agricultural expansion and charcoal production are the key causes of forest loss in Africa. Other threats include mining, unsustainable logging and urban development.