Given the trend of climate change in the world, most countries joined an international treaty i.e. the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), to start to consider measures to lessen global warming and to cope with future temperature increase. Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations warns that deforestation continues at a higher rate of approximately 13 million hectares per year for the period 1990–2005.
Deforestation and forest degradation lead to release of the carbon originally stored in the trees as CO2 emissions. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that 18-20% of current global annual carbon emissions are the result of loss of tropical forest.
The IPCC recommends that reducing deforestation is the mitigation option for attaining immediate carbon stock impact globally and may generate a new financial stream for sustainable forest management in developing countries.
Tanzania has decided to embark upon a national REDD programme to meet its obligations of managing her forests sustainably while responding to poverty reduction initiatives. The government is envisaging to participate in the future REDD policy and in its development and inclusion into UNFCCC framework. Already a process to develop a National Strategy and Action Plan for REDD has been initiated and is facilitated through an appointed Task Force
Forest resources in Tanzania
Tanzania is endowed with large and valuable forest resources. About 33.5 million hectares is forests and woodlands. Out of this total area, almost two thirds consists of woodlands on public lands which lack proper management.
About 13 million hectares of this total forest area have been gazetted as forest reserves. Over 80,000 hectares of the gazetted area is under plantation forestry and about 1.6 million hectares are under water catchment management.
The forests offer habitat for wildlife, beekeeping unique natural ecosystems and genetic resources. Forest related goods and services have a significant potential for the economic development of the country. However, Tanzania is facing serious environmental degradation problems. Among the most important ones are deforestation and forest degradation. Furthermore, climate change poses another challenge to sustainable livelihoods and forest management in Tanzania.
Forests play important role in climate change mitigation as sources and sinks of CO2. Forest biomass acts as a source of carbon when burned or when decays. Also, when soil is disturbed it releases CO2 and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that 18-20% of current global annual carbon emissions are the result of loss of tropical forest. On the other hand, forests also act as carbon sinks when their area or productivity increases, resulting in an increased uptake of CO2 from the atmosphere.They absorb CO2 and release oxygen into the atmosphere through the natural process of photosynthesis in which CO2 is converted to carbon and stored in the woody tissue of the plant. It is because of this that some forms of forestry activities are used as valid means for atmospheric CO2 reduction as they contribute significantly to climate change mitigation.
For a long time, the Government of Tanzania has attempted to curb the problem of deforestation by promoting village and community forestry aimed at producing sufficient amount of forest products and services to meet both local demands and promote the forests contribution to global environmental conservation. Despite these efforts, environmental degradation continues at a fast rate.
This is partly due to unsustainable land-uses such as shifting agriculture, but more so because of the relationship between environmental degradation and poverty in attempts to satisfy basic needs. The consequences have been loss of biodiversity and general decline of forest products and services such as fuelwood, and water catchment values.
The Government of Tanzania has realised that a more comprehensive approach was needed to ensure sustainable forest management in the country in the face of climate change. It is in this context that Tanzania has embarked on Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD) initiative.
In Tanzania REDD initiative is taken as an opportunity that will contribute to the efforts towards ecosystem management and poverty reduction through sound forest management.
10 April 2010
03 April 2010
ground water vulnerability
The Earth is truly a blue planet; 70% of its surface is covered with water. Unfortunately 97.5% of that is salt water, unusable for humans. Fresh water accounts for the other 2.5%, however, about two thirds of that is locked up in glaciers and in the icy poles. That leaves humans (and every other living creature on land) only about 1% of all the water on Earth to use
If we break this down even further, we see more limitations. Of the 1% usable water, only 1% is actually on the surface and can be easily accessed. This includes lakes, rivers, and swamps. The rest is underground. The US Geological Survey has estimated the actual quantities in cubic miles for water distribution on Earth and is as follows:
Oceans, Seas, and Bays - 321 million
Ice caps, glaciers, and permanent snow - 5.8 million
Groundwater - 5.6 million
Lakes - 42,320
Atmosphere - 3,095
Swamps - 2,752
Rivers - 509
Biological Water - 269
When looking at these numbers, what really pops out is the enormous stores of groundwater available. 5.6 million cubic miles is a staggering sum, even when compared to the immensity of the oceans.
Groundwater is contained in aquifers, underground layers of water-bearing permeable rock or sediment such as silt, sand, or clay. Under, and sometimes over the aquifer is an aquiclude, a solid, impermeable layer such as clay that the water cannot penetrate. The top surface of the water saturated material is called the water table. For millennia, humans have dug wells to access this bountiful source of fresh water
Due to unsound environmental practices and the sheer increase in human numbers, aquifers around the world have been coming under heavy duress. There is even an Aquifer Vulnerability Index that is used by geologists and hydrogeologists to determine which areas are most being contaminated or depleted.
Aquifers with limited natural recharge capacity can be over-exploited by human habitation and agriculture. This is especially true in deep underground aquifers in arid regions such as the enormous Ogallala aquifer in the Great Plains. This aquifer contains what is known as fossil water, water deposited in the ground from the melting of ice during the last great Ice Age. Some areas are able to keep the water table leveled off with sufficient rain and recharge. However, the annual recharge in the more arid parts of the aquifer is estimated to be only 10% of annual withdrawals. Efforts have been made to conserve water by the adoption of new agricultural practices such as terracing, crop rotation, efficient irrigation methods such as center pivot and drip, and simply reducing area under irrigation.
The Ogallala and other aquifers across the United States are easily contaminated. Contamination can come from many sources, including under- and above-ground storage tanks, septic systems, hazardous waste sites, landfills, road salts, fertilizers, pesticides, and various chemicals.
Many storage tanks (particularly underground ones) contain fossil fuels such as gasoline, oil, or propane. Over time, the tanks can corrode, develop leaks, and spread contamination into the substrate to find the water table.
Septic systems are not connected to the municipal sewer system, and are meant to slowly drain human waste harmlessly into the ground where it can be biologically degraded. If the septic system is improperly designed or maintained, it can cause groundwater contamination.
Other major contaminants are the chemicals we put on our lawns to kill weeds and insects, and to fertilize the plants. These are hazardous chemicals that the rain eventually washes down into the ground towards the water table or into streams, lakes and the ocean.
It is important to remember that groundwater, just like lakes, rivers, and streams, are part of the freshwater hydrological cycle. They are all connected, so that what happens to one will affect the other. Since water is so vital to human existence, it is right to protect that source which is most abundant. Maintaining good water quality is everybody's responsibility.
If we break this down even further, we see more limitations. Of the 1% usable water, only 1% is actually on the surface and can be easily accessed. This includes lakes, rivers, and swamps. The rest is underground. The US Geological Survey has estimated the actual quantities in cubic miles for water distribution on Earth and is as follows:
Oceans, Seas, and Bays - 321 million
Ice caps, glaciers, and permanent snow - 5.8 million
Groundwater - 5.6 million
Lakes - 42,320
Atmosphere - 3,095
Swamps - 2,752
Rivers - 509
Biological Water - 269
When looking at these numbers, what really pops out is the enormous stores of groundwater available. 5.6 million cubic miles is a staggering sum, even when compared to the immensity of the oceans.
Groundwater is contained in aquifers, underground layers of water-bearing permeable rock or sediment such as silt, sand, or clay. Under, and sometimes over the aquifer is an aquiclude, a solid, impermeable layer such as clay that the water cannot penetrate. The top surface of the water saturated material is called the water table. For millennia, humans have dug wells to access this bountiful source of fresh water
Due to unsound environmental practices and the sheer increase in human numbers, aquifers around the world have been coming under heavy duress. There is even an Aquifer Vulnerability Index that is used by geologists and hydrogeologists to determine which areas are most being contaminated or depleted.
Aquifers with limited natural recharge capacity can be over-exploited by human habitation and agriculture. This is especially true in deep underground aquifers in arid regions such as the enormous Ogallala aquifer in the Great Plains. This aquifer contains what is known as fossil water, water deposited in the ground from the melting of ice during the last great Ice Age. Some areas are able to keep the water table leveled off with sufficient rain and recharge. However, the annual recharge in the more arid parts of the aquifer is estimated to be only 10% of annual withdrawals. Efforts have been made to conserve water by the adoption of new agricultural practices such as terracing, crop rotation, efficient irrigation methods such as center pivot and drip, and simply reducing area under irrigation.
The Ogallala and other aquifers across the United States are easily contaminated. Contamination can come from many sources, including under- and above-ground storage tanks, septic systems, hazardous waste sites, landfills, road salts, fertilizers, pesticides, and various chemicals.
Many storage tanks (particularly underground ones) contain fossil fuels such as gasoline, oil, or propane. Over time, the tanks can corrode, develop leaks, and spread contamination into the substrate to find the water table.
Septic systems are not connected to the municipal sewer system, and are meant to slowly drain human waste harmlessly into the ground where it can be biologically degraded. If the septic system is improperly designed or maintained, it can cause groundwater contamination.
Other major contaminants are the chemicals we put on our lawns to kill weeds and insects, and to fertilize the plants. These are hazardous chemicals that the rain eventually washes down into the ground towards the water table or into streams, lakes and the ocean.
It is important to remember that groundwater, just like lakes, rivers, and streams, are part of the freshwater hydrological cycle. They are all connected, so that what happens to one will affect the other. Since water is so vital to human existence, it is right to protect that source which is most abundant. Maintaining good water quality is everybody's responsibility.
Tanzania, Zambia ivory sales requests fail at CITES
Requests from Zambia and Tanzania to hold one-off sales of their ivory stockpiles failed during a United Nations species trade meeting today that comes during a worldwide poaching crisis.
Governments participating in the United Nation’s Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES) rejected proposals by Tanzania and Zambia to relax trade restrictions on their elephant populations by moving them from Appendix I — the highest level of protection under the Convention banning all international commercial trade
The two countries had also initially, asked in addition to their downlisting requests, that they be able to hold a one-off sale of their ivory stockpiles.
No commercial ivory sale is permitted if their elephants remain in Appendix I, but are possible with the Appendix II listing, which allows some regulated international commercial trade.
But neither country was given permission to sell their ivory at this stage or relax trade controls on their elephant populations. The decisions come amid a poaching crisis destroying elephant populations in Asia and Africa.
Governments rejected Tanzania's downlisting and ivory sales request. They also voted against Zambia’s request to move their elephant populations off Appendix I — a decision which came despite an amendment by Zambia to remove the request for a one-off sale of their ivory stockpiles from their original proposal.
"While the issue of whether sales should be allowed to proceed or not has dominated much of the discussions here in Qatar, WWF and TRAFFIC believe the key driving force behind the ongoing elephant poaching is the continued existence of illegal domestic ivory markets across parts of Africa and Asia," said Steven Broad, Executive Director of TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network of WWF and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Governments participating in the United Nation’s Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES) rejected proposals by Tanzania and Zambia to relax trade restrictions on their elephant populations by moving them from Appendix I — the highest level of protection under the Convention banning all international commercial trade
The two countries had also initially, asked in addition to their downlisting requests, that they be able to hold a one-off sale of their ivory stockpiles.
No commercial ivory sale is permitted if their elephants remain in Appendix I, but are possible with the Appendix II listing, which allows some regulated international commercial trade.
But neither country was given permission to sell their ivory at this stage or relax trade controls on their elephant populations. The decisions come amid a poaching crisis destroying elephant populations in Asia and Africa.
Governments rejected Tanzania's downlisting and ivory sales request. They also voted against Zambia’s request to move their elephant populations off Appendix I — a decision which came despite an amendment by Zambia to remove the request for a one-off sale of their ivory stockpiles from their original proposal.
"While the issue of whether sales should be allowed to proceed or not has dominated much of the discussions here in Qatar, WWF and TRAFFIC believe the key driving force behind the ongoing elephant poaching is the continued existence of illegal domestic ivory markets across parts of Africa and Asia," said Steven Broad, Executive Director of TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network of WWF and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
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