Cabashadii degaanka Goof ee Degmada Ceerigaabo ee kuwaajahnayd Wasiir Cadami oo heer caalami gaadhey

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Salaan
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Cabashadii degaanka Goof ee Degmada Ceerigaabo ee kuwaajahnayd Wasiir Cadami oo heer caalami gaadhey
 More than $25 million worth of charcoal is delivered each year by truck to Kismayo and the al-Shabab-controlled port of Barawe for export to the United Arab Emirates and other Middle Eastern ports in violation of UN sanctions.
Waxgaradka iyo odayaasha degaanka Goof iyo Soolgeriyo ayaa in mudo ahba waxay Wasiirka Gaashaandhiga Somaliland Axmed X. Cali Cadami kaga cabanayeen inuu ishortaagey dedaalkii ay ugu jireen inay degaankooda ka joojiyaan gubista dhirta iyo ka ganacsiga dhuxusha, waxa kaloo jira tuhumo muujinaya in Wasiirku gacansaar la leeyahay shariikado dhuxusha ka ganacsada oo fadhigoodu yahay Boosaaso. Kadib markii ay cabashadooda Dawlada Somaliland waxba ka qabanweydey ayna hayayaan cadaymo muujinaya in Wasiirku jebiyey Axdigii Golaha Amaanka ee Qarama Midoobey ee tirsigiisu ahaa 2036 soon baxay February 2012, kaasi oo mamnuucayey dhuxul laga dhoofiyo Somalia/Somaliland, ayaa waxay cabashadoodii gaadhsiiyeen Wakaalado iyo Hay’ado caalami ah, oo ah kuwo wax ka qabta xaalufka iyo baabi’inta degaanka oo ay ka mid yihiin:
 
European Environment Agency (EEA)
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)
Department For International Development (DFID) – UK
 
Warqadaas cabashada ah oo dheerayd oo ku qorayd luqadda Englishta waxa aanu usoo koonay sidatan;
Maadaama aanay wadan gaar ah ama cid gaar ah khusaynayn kaymahan sida arxan darada loo gubayaa, dhibaatada ka dhalata ee keenaysa hawada aduunka ee kululatana laga dareemayo wadan kasta, ayaa waxa lama huraan noqotay in dadweynaha reer Goof ay kiiskooda aduunka usoo bandhigaan.  Hadaba waxaanu akhristayaasha Soomaalida ah in yar usoo bandhigaynaa sida cimilada aduunka iyo dhirtu isugu xidhan tahay:
 
Isbedelka cimilada ee aduunka ku yimi ayaa waxa culimada Saynisku xaqiijiyeen inuu yahay mid dad samay ah.  Waxayaabaha keenay in cimiladu kululaato waxa ka mid ah kudarsanka ay hawada kudarsameen xaddi aad ubadan oo ah maadadaha loo yaqaano Green House Gasses oo ka mid yihiin Carbon Dioxide (Co2), Methane iyo Fossil Fuells oo ka dhasha shiidaalka gawaadhida iyo wershedaha, gaasta dabiiciga ah iyo gubista dhirta.
 
Dhirtu laba raad ayay ku yeelataa dikhowga hawada: waa marka hore, oo ah  ina hadii la gubo ay hawada ku darto CO2 , iyo hadii dhirta la daayo inay iyadu hawada ka nuugto CO2 , hadaba ilaalinta dhirtu waa sida keliya aduunku hadda u arko inay tahay sida  lagu badbaadin karo cimilada aduunka ee isbedeshey, waana tan keentay in dhamaan kaymaha aduunka laga dhigo kuwo ka caagan in la gooyo.
Mudooyinkii danbe waxa aad ugu soo batay degaano ka mid ah dhulka Somaliland in la gubey kaymihii, meelaha ay aadka usaameeyeena waxa ka mid ah degaanka Soolgeriyo/Goof oo ka tirsan degmada Ceerigaabo oo dhirtii dhuxul laga dhigay taasi oo ay kashaqaystaan ganacsato reer Puntland oo gacan saar la leh Wasiirka Gaashaandhiga Somaliland Mr. Axmed X. Cali Cadami.  Taasna waxa daliil u ah sidii uu ukala dhantaalay Mashruucii samatabixinta kaymaha Soolgeriyo/ Goof  ee degmada Ceerigaabo oo dadka degaanka Goof intay is abaabuleen ku joojiyeen dhuxushii laga shidi jirey degaankooda.  Ka dib markii wasiirku ka war helay arintaas ayuu ka soo qaaday ciidan tiro yaraa oo dadka degaanku ka dalbadeen ciidanka qaranka ee gobolka oo ilaalin jiray inaan dhirta la jarin, isagoo sabab uga dhigay nabadgelyo la’aan ka dhalan karta gawaadhi ciidanku qabteen oo ka yimi Puntland  si tuugo ahna dhuxul ugu qaadayey Boosaaso, oo ah dekadda ay ka dhoofto dhuxusha laga shido kaymaha ku hareeraysan magaalada Ceerigaabo.  Taasi oo dad badani u arkayeen ka hor imaansho toos oo laga horyimi waxqabadkii dadka iyo taageero la taageerayo qawlesatada ka ganacsata dhuxusha oo dib ubilaabay goyntii iyo gubistii dhirta oo waqtigan xaadirka ah ku socota xawli ka badan kii hore.
 
Axdiga Golaha Amaanka ee tirsigiisu ahaa 2036 Paragraph kiisa 22aad ee soo baxay 2012 ayaa sheegaya; Inay mamnuuc tahay in toos iyo si  dadban toona aan dhuxul looga dhoofin Somalia/Somaliland, ha ahaato mid Somaliya toos uga timi ama mid wadamo kale ka timi oo iyada soo martayba.  Waxana la faray in xukuumadaha ka taliya degaankaasi ay qaadaan talaabo kasta oo ay ku joojinayaan dhoofinta dhuxusha.
 
Waxa cad in wasiirka gaashaandhigga Somaliland uu si badheedh ah u jebiyey Axdigaas kor kuxusan, waxana dadka qaarkii soo jeedinayaan in la furo kiis ka dhan ah Cadami , hadii uu yimaado mid ka mid ah wadamada ree galbeedka sida UK oo reerkiisu degan yahay, iyo in laga mamnuuco inuu dib uyimaado degmada Ceerigaabo, sida dadweynaha degmada Badhan ay uga mamnuuceen dhulkooda, ka dib markii uu ka abuuray xaalado nabadgelyo darro.
(Warqadii cabashada ahayd ee loo qoray Wakaaladaha kor kuxusan oo dhamaystiran kala soco warbaahinta dhowaan iyadoo ku qoran English)
 
Sanaag Ecological society (SES)
FROM: SANAAG ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY (SES)
 
To :
 
European Environment Agency (EEA)
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)
Department For International Development (DFID) – UK
Re: an ongoing environmental devastation taking place in somaliland
 
We write this complaint letter in connection with an ongoing environmental issue that has adversely affected our local community Goof situated near Cerigaabo in the Sanaag region of Somaliland. We have tried to articulate our concerns to the Somaliland government through all the existing official channels but unfortunately nothing tangible (beyond expected customary lip service) has been done to placate our concerns. This has made us feel compelled to appeal to the international aid agencies currently operating in Somaliland for assistance before people on the ground decide to take matters completely into their own hands. We remain confident that such a state of affairs will not come about once the full implications of inaction are understood.
 
Of course, the climate in the Horn of Africa is renowned for being hot and generally throughout the majority of the year. Areas where there are swathes of green, arable land and acacia rainforests in the midst of such a harsh climate should therefore be protected as much as humanly possible according to all conservationist norms. Historically, Sanaag is blessed with such land but in recent months, illegal deforestation of our acacia rainforests has been taking place where the trees are chopped down and sold as firewood and charcoal by traffickers where it is then exported via the port town of Boosaaso.  The Somaliland minister of defence was made aware of this during a recent trip to Ceerigaabo where he subsequently promised to send an army unit to the local area charged with protecting the local environment on which both the rural community and their livestock are so utterly dependent. Months have since passed and no such unit has been forthcoming.  There are sectors of Sanaag rural who believe that the minister himself Mr Ahmed Hagi Ali Cadami is a major shareholder of one of the biggest companies that export charcoal from Boosaaso to the UAE and this conflict of interest is the reason why he withdrew an army unit stationed in Goof to protect Soolgeriyo forest. 
 
Aware of this, those who had been carrying out this illegal deforestation have as a result been emboldened to continue their illicit activity seemingly in the total absence of any kind of deterrent. Understandably, the Goof community who are the people most adversely affected by this phenomenon cannot afford to sit idly by when what has been their means of livelihood for generations is decimated before their very eyes. Talk of resorting to a local clan militia has been bandied about which of course conjures up unsavoury images from Somalia’s dark past. We are of course very keen to avoid this scenario, hence our appeal for intervention and assistance from NGO’s already operating nearby.
 
Before we go into any detail of how devastating the impact of these activities on the local environment, it is worth mentioning that in 2012 the United Nations Security Council imposed a ban on the direct and indirect export of charcoal from Somalia/Somaliland as per paragraph 22 of UN resolution 2036. The relevant authorities are therefore expected to take the necessary measures to prevent this from happening. As previously indicated above, the Somaliland government appears to be either unwilling or unable to comply with this international obligation. I understand that of course that the country faces huge challenges with underdevelopment, peace and stability with its neighbours, not to mention the very real threat posed by extremist groups such as the Somalia-based Al-Shabaab. 
However, tackling this problem in my view will without doubt go a long way in helping the Goof rural community regain its capacity for self sustainability. As of right now, the colossal damage inflicted on the ever-depleting rainforests now means that commonplace regional phenomena such as droughts and famine are now being much more keenly felt both within and beyond the Sanaag region.  When you combine the eroding ecosystem with illegal fishing off the coast of towns such as Maydh ( situated to the north of Ceeriaabo) this of course creates a degree of dependency on the outside dollar to keep people’s heads above water which is evidently the very antithesis of the several self help initiatives often trumpeted as some of Somaliland’s minor achievements. 
 
According to conservative estimates, Somaliland’s once vast acacia forests now account for less the ten percent of the country’s land mass. The depletion of these forests and use of trees as charcoal is leading to rapid desertification, which has according to USAID officials cost the lives of 29,000 children last year alone under the age of 5, a tragic and totally avoidable man-made catastrophe.  One can also appreciate the impact of the receding rainforest boundaries has on the local wildlife. With the land becoming increasingly uninhabitable for ordinary people, livestock is now being deprived of areas of land for grazing. This decreasing bio-diversity is now likely to mean that animals which have been so dependent on these acacia groves are increasingly unlikely to be able to survive in the future unless drastic measures are taken to reverse this process. For hundreds of years, Somali pastoralists have relied on the local environment in order to maintain the delicate balance between rearing livestock and protecting the rainforests that has made their survival possible. 
 
However, it now seems increasingly likely that Goof’s pastoralists will be faced with stark choices in the future unless something can be done to protect the local environment. They can either choose to forcibly defend their livelihoods by designating their own clan militias to protect what little remains of the forests and grazing land. Or they may end up choosing to abandon their ancient agricultural traditions by also taking part in the illegal but lucrative export of charcoal trade which unfortunately has too many willing end users in the Arabian Gulf for example who would be more than happy to reward them handsomely. In my view both options would be catastrophic. However desperate times call for desperate measures and when faced the very real threat of losing one’s main source of livelihood, such eventualities would become more plausible than possible. The knock-on effect on Sanaag’s surrounding regions would also be felt not only environmentally but socially and economically as well. With local wildlife becoming increasingly scarce as they struggle to adapt to depletion of their natural resources, this is likely to drive price of livestock up several fold, something that Somaliland can ill afford as this trade is arguably the bedrock of the national economy. In addition, the aforementioned vulnerable farming communities may feel forced to resettle elsewhere in the country if faced with no other viable alternative. This could also have negative implications for social cohesion in Somaliland as it could lead to heightening of tensions in an area of the world where access to scarce, vital resources such as water and fertile land has historically been the source of conflict.
For the reasons highlighted above, I am hereby urgently requesting that the Somaliland government works in tandem with locally based international NGO’s by taking urgent steps to resolve the continuing problem of Goof’s rainforests being systematically destroyed as a result of the illegal export of charcoal from Somaliland/Somalia. If this man made catastrophe continues unchecked, the prospect of environmental disaster spiraling out of control and then becoming an economic, social and political one becomes ever more real by the day. It is sincerely hoped that once the relevant authorities have fully realized the gravity of the situation, the necessary urgent steps to rectify and reverse the current status quo will be taken at the earliest opportunity.
 
Yours sincerely
 
Sanaag Ecological Society (SES)

 

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