1. Somalia International Conference on Charcoal, Mogadishu, 7–8 May, 2018
Somalia’s Degrading ENVIRONMENT – Causes and Consequences of Deforestation
Dr Abdullahi Elmi Mohamed PhD, MSc, ME, MA Senior Environment and Water Expert

2. With the Forests in Our Minds
With the Beled-Weyne People in Our Minds

3. Somalia – A Deforested Country
Somalia experienced worst deforestation in history
- Somalia has meagre forest resources
- Acacia is the most dominant tree species
- The degradation is at an alarming rate
- Serious impacts (environ., econ., and social)
Deforestation – the result of charcoal
- Millions of trees have been cut and burned
- Charcoal export to the Gulf States “luxuries”
- Somalia’s Black Gold after the livestock ban
- Charcoal for urban and firewood for rural
- Violations of domestic & international rules.

4. Causes of Deforestation in Somalia
Felling of trees for firewood
Cutting of trees for building materials
Clearing of land for cultivation
Cutting and burning of trees for charcoal

6. Charcoal ready for transport

7. Factors driving charcoal in domestic use
Lack of sustainable sources of energy supplies
Weak institutions with no sufficient capacities and resources
Lack of policies and plans for developing potential energy resources
Lack of investments

8. Factors driving the Charcoal Export
Absence of rule of law and lack of government system
Foreign demands for charcoal – the major driving force
Somalia’s geographical position
Existence and availability of transport
Lack of strong civil society organization
Changed landownership and property rights regimes

9. Destructive ideas behind the conduct
Who cares about environment?
Supersize Me “Mar-i-cayili”

10. Estimation of charcoal production
Each tree produces 7 – 10 sacks of charcoal
Each sack of charcoal weighs 15 – 20 kg
An average household consumes 3 sacks per month
One household consumes 36 sacks per year. Equivalent to 4 trees (4 trees is burned for 1 family)
households consume trees
In total, Somalia consumes 8 million trees per year.
Charcoal exported to the Gulf States: tonnes of charcoal annually ( tons).
4.4 million of trees are felled annually (11 million)

11. Loss of forestland ( )
Between 1990 – 2005 Somali lost 14% of its forest cover – over 1 million hectares of land.
Between 2005 – 2018 is not know yet. The rate could be much more than 1990 – 2005.
Damages to the forests caused both economic and ecological losses.
Large amount of sediment loads, resulted from soil erosion from the deforestation, along the rivers, deposit in the river beds, contribute to river flooding.

12. Consequences of Deforestation in Somalia
Increased soil erosion
Disruption of water cycles
Increased desertification
Reduced biodiversity
Climate change
Disruption of livelihood
Local conflicts and national insecurity
Bankrupting common resources

13. Cyclic Causes of Social Unrest
Conflict
Injustice
Social Unrest
Poverty
Environmental
Degradation

14. The Way Forward Creation of Ministry of Environment
Establishment of NEPA under the Ministry
Organizing Somali environmental conference
Studying and addressing environmental Issues
Initiating a national awareness raising programs
Building alliance against charcoal export
Strengthening of existing collaboration
Providing new sources of energy supply
Collaborating with environmental organizations
Participating in environmental forums
Drafting a new law banning charcoal export
Developing national policy on deforestation