Action Ceinture Verte pour l Environnement

Transcription

1 Action Ceinture Verte pour l Environnement

2 The Rusizi Natural Reserve is calling out for help A speech for its defense against threats

3 Introduction At the beginning, God created Heaven and Earth. Burundi is one of Earth s components. And the Rusizi Natural Reserve is a component of this Earth made of Burundi. The Reserve is therefore an element to which the Creator gave a specific function.

4 The RNR based on literature Like different texts let us understand, this Reserve was considered until the 1970s to be one of the regions which had abundant pray in Africa. In 1978, an ecologist named Jacques Verschuren signaled the wild fauna destruction, including elephants which were one of the Reserve s treasures.

5 Reserve Description Created in 1980, the Rusizi National Park went through Bubanza and Bujumbura Rural provinces, on a 9000 ha area. Following some territory adjustments, the site now counts only 5932 ha. In January 2000, the Rusizi National Park became the Rusizi Natural Reserve. It is made of 2 sectors :

6 1. The Delta sector located alongside the Lake Tanganyika and 2. The natural Palm trees sector, which is characterized by the presence of «false palms», also known under the name of UMUKOKO, which probably explains the name of the Rukoko.

7 After peace came back in the country, the Rusizi Natural Reserve could have been able to restore its touristic potential, a potential rich in endemic fauna and flora.

8 Inventory The Reserve s actual situation should make us wonder. It is today threatened by a rapid invasion by populations coming from different towns of the Province of Bubanza. We also have private companies who invest in agriculture and breeding.

9 The RNR is facing various threats Within the boundaries of the Reserve, suspicious and threatening villages are being developed for various reasons. Those villages are extended to the edges of the Rusizi River and their residents develop diverse food crop cultures, including tomato and banana.

10 The RNR is facing various threats Breeders continue to install barns in a section initially reserved to breeding. But since there is no official delimitations, we can see cows wandering to the edges of the River. Also, be aware that there is no water sources fitted for these animals watering.

11 The RNR is facing various threats Within this Reserve, between the first and third transverse, we now have an extensive culture of cotton. This culture led to the creation of an important village within the Reserve s boundaries. The residents of this village are the COGERCO workforce and they assure us that they have the administrative authorities support.

12 2009 Picture

13 Cotton culture starts again in 2009 This activity renewal represents one of the principal destruction threats on the unique ecosystem offered in Burundi and its region. The development of this activity has as direct consequence the installation of villages of unknown dimensions because there is no planning maps.

14 2009 Picture

15 2009 Picture

16 Cotton Harvesting : July 2011 Picture

17 July 2011 Picture

18 The village that was created in 2009 continues to grow Looking at how these villages are created, there is no doubt the Reserve will disappear in less than 5 years. Adding to the cotton industry, the residents of these villages will develop other cultures for their survival.

19 These are therefore uncompatible activities to the primary purpose of the Reserve. To subsist their vital needs, these people need energy and water. In terms of energy, they install charcoal ovens within the Reserve boundaries, which violates the Forest Code dispositions established in 1985.

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21 As for water, these residents swear to use the Rusizi River water as their drinking water and for other use. This represents a serious threat to their health, especially for children.

22 Sugar cane culture invades the Reserve Finally, credible reports suggest that a land with an area of over 1,000 ha has been assigned to an individual who wants to plant sugar cane.

23 River deviation for irrigation purposes

24 Sugar cane s irrigation requires water

25 Sugar cane growth

26 Machines at work

27 Palm trees carcass

28 July 2011 picture. A few more palm trees near the River

29 The Kajeke River doesn t run anymore

30 Potential solutions to consider Given this situation, the ACVE requests that urgent actions are taken, because the cost of the Reserve s destruction is greater than the expected benefit from all the agricultural industry.

31 Actions to consider 1. Remove COGERCO to conduct an environmental assessment of the cotton culture in this space. While waiting for the completion of this study, suspend all clearing work until the empowered authority, the INECN which has the mission to manage protected areas, has verified the feasibility of this activity in a protected area.

32 Action to consider (ctd) 2. Delocalize the families working for COGERCO and living in the Reserve. This won t be very hard because those families have been there for only a year, and also because they are from Mpanda and Gihanga, towns bordering the Reserve.

33 Actions to consider (ctd) 3. Urgently make a required study and environmental assessment of the sugar cane culture. Search for another land that can accommodate this plant. 4. Accelerate the implementation of a decree protecting the Reserve which happens to be the most threatened area out of all the areas recorded by the INECN.

34 Actions to consider (ctd) 5. Delimit the reserved areas for agriculture and breeding, in order to stop cows from wandering around the Reserve. This could be done if farmers associations are involved. 6. Stop all land allocations within the Reserve.

35 Other experiences: The Forest Mabila in Uganda The Mabira Forest is a rainforest area covering about 300 square kilometres (120 sq mi) (30,000 hectares (74,000 acres)) in Uganda, located in Buikwe District, between Lugazi and Jinja. It has been protected as Mabira Forest Reserve since It is home for many endangered species like the primate Lophocebus ugandae. ( Google)

36 Deforestation plans The Sugar Corporation of Uganda Limited, a jointly owned by the Government of Uganda and by the Mehta Group, planned to clear one-third of the Mabira Forest (around 70 square kilometres (27 sq mi), for sugarcane plantations, and had proposed to the government to degazette this land and transfer it to SCOUL. President Yoweri Museveni and his cabinet supported this plan.

37 Deforestation plans The deforestation plans were disputed within Uganda. While environmentalists feared the loss of hundreds of endangered species, increased erosion, the damage of livelihoods of local people and negative impacts on water balance and regional climate, supporters hoped for the creation of jobs. A cabinet paper said the plan would generate 3,500 jobs and contribute 11.5 billion Ugandan shillings to the treasury.

38 Deforestation plans The Kabaka (King) of Buganda opposed the deforestation plan and has offered alternative land for sugarcane production. The Anglican church of Mukono has also offered land. [1]

39 Deforestation plans At least three people were killed during a demonstration of about 1,000 for the protection of the Mabira Forest. There were also riots against Asians, since the Mehta Group is Indian-owned. SCOUL plantations were set on fire, and s and SMS calling for the boycott of SCOUL's Lugazi sugar circulated.

40 Deforestation plans President Museveni defended the deforestation plans, saying that he shall not be deterred by people who don't see where the future of Africa lies. According to him, the Save Mabira activists don't understand that the future of all countries lies in processing. In May 2007, the Ugandan environmental minister announced that the deforestation plans were suspended and that the government is trying to find alternative land for the Mehta Group.

41 Which choice should we take? Mabila forest has been rescued, We can rescue the Rusizi Natural Reserve, and it isn t late yet, an ecosystem unique in its kind, a space for the development of ecotourism, when we know that it is close to the Bujumbura International Airport.

42 The Rusizi Natural Reserve, an ecosystem to be protected The Rusizi Natural Reserve keeps its integrity. The palm trees area is particularly important in terms of wild plants biodiversity because it is the only area of this protected region and of the country where there is a concentration of false palm trees, Hyphaenabenguellensis var ventricosaibikoko which is endemic, hence the local name of Rukoko.

43 It is now time to visit the Reserve I wish you a great discovery, and the Reserve is pleased to share its pain with you. Thank you: Albert Mbonerane