By Jerome Saye with the Liberia Forest Media Watch
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The fight against climate change has now become everyone’s businesss, even though rich countries are major contributors to climate pollution through largescale industrial practices. Report within the range of the Liberia Forest Media Watch (LFMW) has singled out China (30%), United States (15%), India (7%), Russia (5% and Japan (4%) as the five most polluting countries in the world. Greenhouse gas from fossil fuel combustion and cement production in the atmosphere accounts for approximately 64% of the warming effect on the climate, according to World Meteorological Organization of 15 November 2023 on https://wmo.int/news/media-centre/greenhouse-gas-concentrations-hit-record-high-again.
In Africa, mainly Liberia, the most noticeable cause of climate change is deforestation accessioned by the demand of logging and agricultural commodity activities for high-value cash crops like oil palm, coffee and cocoa. Example, report says Liberia lost 347 thousand hectares of forest cover between 2002 and 2023.
Amid the growing wave of deforestation in Liberia, some Forest Communities have begun prioritizing reforestation in their engagements with concession companies as a major option to mitigating the effects of climate change. One of such communities taking the board step toward replacing lost trees is Sehyi Kodoo Authorized Forest Community. The move is to offset the environmental impact of mining caused by ArcelorMittal Liberia Limited.
‘’In that agreement, we agreed to do reforestation, so, this is why you are seeing these young trees all on line,” said Chief Offer of the Community Forest Management Body of Sehyi Kodoo Authorized Forest Community, Erickson N. Flomo, pointing to the flourishing young trees on nursery.
The reforestation project is worth US$80,000. Community Forest officials say the initiative aims to restore vast stretches of forestland in areas affected by mining operations in support to sustainable forest management. Standing in the middle of the flourishing saplings with a broad smile on his face, Chief Officer Flomo is ready to take some of the young trees to the reforestation sites on his assigned motorcycle.
About 30,000 construction woods and fruits trees’ species have successfully been nursed by residents of the Sehyi Kodoo Community Forest. “We have successfully nursed about 30,000 construction woods and fruit trees species. So here in this number is about 15,000 trees and above and to Sehyi Geh is about 15,000 and above. I’m saying and above because we going extra knowing that some will die because of climate change,” Flomo disclosed to LFMW.
LFMW’s reporter Jerome Saye inspecting the nursery
Trees spices on nursery and ready for transplanting are Piptadeniastrum africanum (Dahoma) and Terminalia. These trees are noted for construction related works and medicinal purpose such as treatment of abdomen pain. They are mostly grown in humid tropics of sub-Saharan Africa, Senegal, Sudan and Angola.
The Dean of the College of Natural Sciences at Nimba University, Samuel Konah has termed the reforestation exercise as a laudable initiative aimed at combating climate change and fertilization of soil. Dean Konah emphasized that reforestation is an essential strategy in mitigating the adverse effects of global warming in developing countries like Liberia. “So, planting trees is important.
“If we cut one tree, we should plant five, because we don’t have the technology to clean our air space,” said Konah. “The trees are the only options that we have to clean our air space since we don’t have the technology,” Dean Konah cautioned.
The call to action by the Nimba University’s Official resonates with global efforts to address climate change through nature-based solutions as the world faces increasing environmental challenges.
In October 2023, the Sehyi Kodoo Authorized Community Forest entered into a memorandum of understanding with ArcelorMittal Liberia Limited for the purpose of replacing trees in its mine affected areas and other degraded lands. The agreement obligates Sehyi Kodoo Authorized Community Forest to nurse 30,000 trees in Sehyikimpa and Sehy Geh Towns in Sehyi Clan, Nimba County.