Deforestation in Mali: Dangerous practices obstruct reforestation

Hello, dear listeners, welcome to our program.

Today with our guests, we will talk about the obstacles and the challenges to reforestation. We will also talk about the impact of climate change and the measures taken by the women and men who struggle every day to find solutions to the obstacles to reforestation in different communities.

We are going to talk to Mr. Broulaye Diakité, Lieutenant Colonel and forestry and water resources engineer, responsible for the Yanfolila zone, Sikasso region.

Mr. Diakité will first give us a brief overview of the reforestation situation in Mali and the Yanfolila zone in particular. Secondly, we will talk to Mr. Issiaka Ballo, tree planter in Sezana Gara, Segou region. He will share with us his experience of the problem of reforestation in the country and the methods they have used to adapt to these problems. Finally, we will talk to Mr. Sidi Coulibaly, a forestry and water resources official in Markala, Segou region. He will also talk to us about the same subject in the Sahel region.

Welcome, Engineer and Lieutenant Colonel.

Thank you for receiving me.

You are in the forest every day. Tell us about the general status of reforestation in Mali.

Mali’s national forestry policy requires, first of all, that trees be planted throughout the country, and secondly, that a national reforestation campaign be organized every year. Preparations for this campaign begin in February or March with the nurseries, which enable people to obtain seedlings before the scheduled date. This campaign takes place from Kayes at the Senegalese border up to Kidal at the Algerian border.

Is the situation the same as before in Yanfolila?

The situation is different now. Trees are rare, especially the big ones and the old ones.

What causes the disappearance or destruction of these trees?

There are many causes. But first, there is the natural increase of the population which increases human needs. Thus, the need for arable land has almost tripled, which means that farmers are cutting down more trees to establish their fields. Secondly, the consumption of charcoal in cities has increased. This growing charcoal consumption increases the pressure on forest resources.
Then, the most important factor in deforestation is the problem of gold panning in the Wassolo Yanfolila area, resulting in the cutting of wood to serve as support for gold mining pits. Also, some people cut wood to earn income, selling to house builders, firewood sellers, and people who collect roots to make therapeutic medicines. Often these people cut wood without a plan to manage the forest.

What are you doing to enable people to plant trees?

Apart from the annual reforestation campaign, the government has taken a number of actions this year. First, we have a reforestation financing fund and we produce and sell seedlings to allow everyone to create nurseries. Then, in Yanfolila zone, we trained hundreds of women on reforestation techniques. Also, during reforestation days, some gold mines buy seedlings.

Which methods do you use to deal with climate change?

First, we select kinds of trees that can withstand water shortages and then we provide training on the PLASA method. This method consists of planting seedlings first in a nursery with a porous layer of soil, which allows the roots to draw water easily, and then replanting the seedlings later on land that was previously occupied by forests. To do this, we make holes 40 cm deep and 40 cm wide.

As a forestry and water resources engineer, can you tell us the benefits of trees?

First of all, trees produce oxygen, which is life-sustaining. Trees absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen. They absorb carbon dioxide through a process called photosynthesis, and this can offset greenhouse gas emissions in urban areas. They influence the quality of air we breathe, acting as air filters.
Secondly, the roots of trees can filter water, resulting in better water quality. Also, trees provide protection against rain, and many of our food and pharmaceutical products come from extracts or processing plant substances.
Finally, trees protect the soil from various forms of erosion.

What role do youth and women play in reforestation?

Women and youth are trained in reforestation techniques. Women are nursery workers and produce their own seedlings, organize reforestation days, and sell seedlings to NGOs and mining companies. As for young people, their work is quite visible in public spaces, in front of schools at the entrance and exit of cities.

What advice can you give with regard to reforestation?

To achieve a sustainable solution to accelerated deforestation, I recommend better supervision of the gold panning sector, control of agricultural and herding activities, and the implementation of development plans. Everyone must be involved in order to address the actions of an organized circle of dangerous people. This circle includes illegal loggers who destroy forests in collaboration with some villagers and even some forestry agents.

Also, I strongly recommend financing the protection and maintenance of planted trees from animals such as oxen, goats, and sheep. This can be done by fencing off young tree plantations with barbed wire and creating areas specifically for animal grazing so that nurseries or forests being restored are not used for this purpose. This prevents animals from damaging young plants by trampling or eating them, for example. Bush fires must also be prevented.

Thank you, Mr. Broulaye Diakité. We are now going to speak to Mr. Issiaka Ballo, a tree planter in the Sezana Gara region of Segou.

Thank you for accepting our invitation. So, Mr. Ballo, you have been a tree planter for a long time. How did you become a tree planter?

I have been a tree planter for almost 15 years now. I have loved this job since I was a kid, when I discovered that our region was once a place where you could find all kinds of giant trees. We had forests everywhere, but now we don’t have them anymore. So, the thought of planting trees struck me. I started to buy seedlings but my budget did not allow me to continue, so I learned to produce my own seedlings in nurseries. There are others who do the same work, so we gather in a group to work together.

What kinds of seedlings are usually produced in your nurseries?

We produce species such as néré, eucalyptus, shea, caicedra, Senegalese acacia, zaban, rônier, balanzan, and other endangered trees.

You explained that there used to be trees everywhere but now there are few. How can you explain this?

First of all, there are loggers whose whole group is organized under the pretext of supplying our cities and countryside with firewood and charcoal. Their actions have waged war on our forests. No tree is spared in their blatant desire to damage the country’s future, in terms of the environment. Nutritional trees such as the néré, the tamarind, the jujube, the shea tree, and the savannah plum, are not spared.

Also, the forestry agents, who are supposed to be in charge of protecting our forests, are the leaders of these new kinds of cartels.

But the people who drive trucks that transport wood and charcoal have decided to denounce some senior officials of the Forestry and Water Resources Department for their involvement in these activities. They tell anyone who will listen that all the new trucks involved in transporting wood and charcoal belong to these officials. It is unfortunate to see wood and charcoal sales points at the entrance and exit to all villages on our main roads. The country loses 100,000 hectares every year due to the over-exploitation of wood.

What are you doing to fight this practice?

We are conducting awareness campaigns in neighbouring towns and villages and meeting with youth and women’s groups. And, especially, we are producing plays with the participation of students in schools.

How do you involve students in the fight against deforestation?

We organize reforestation days with the students and perform plays aimed at raising awareness about reforestation, bush fires, and related issues.

You mentioned bush fires. How can they be an obstacle to reforestation?

In Mali, bush fires are often deliberate. Some people start fires in the forests in the dry season, either to clear land, to hunt game, to promote livestock, or to have new land for crops or construction. These people cause the loss of thousands of kinds of trees.

What will you do about this situation?

I believe that it is up to us, the young people, to fight against these fires by raising awareness and gaining the trust of the people in the villages to change certain habits.

During the rainy season, from June to September, there is almost no risk. But in January or February, the drought begins. At this time, one must be careful: the slightest fire can quickly become uncontrollable because there is dry grass everywhere.

But these fires can be avoided if people are informed of their consequences. Because they often cause them. For example, hunters start fires when they want to catch prey at all costs. When it hides in the bush, they set a fire to flush it out and catch it. And when they go into the bush, they sometimes light fires to cook an animal and eat it. And they sometimes accidentally leave the fire behind.

The same goes for people who collect dry wood for households: they leave with donkeys and carts for several days. At night, they light fires to sleep and may leave without putting them out. There are also farmers who use fire every year to clear their fields. At the end of the rainy season, to remove weeds, they burn everything and replant. But these fires can get out of hand.

Finally, there are also families who cook over an open fire in a very unsafe manner or people who throw cigarette butts in the forest.

Thank you, Issiaka Ballo, for your testimony.

It’s my pleasure!

Our third and final guest is Mr. Sidi Coulibaly, a forestry and water resources officer in Markala, Segou region.

Mr. Coulibaly, welcome!

Thank you and a big thank you to all our listeners.

Unlike the two previous interviewees, you are in the Sahelian zone of Mali. Tell us: what are the obstacles to reforestation in this zone?

First of all, I would like to talk about the Sahel, which is a vast semi-arid African region that separates the Sahara Desert in the north from the tropical savannahs in the south. The Sahel is as much an area of opportunity as it is of security and environmental challenges. Trees play a vital role in maintaining and recovering soil fertility, improving the microclimate for crop production, de-polluting our air, providing shade and shelter for birds and other living things, reducing soil water runoff, and increasing water infiltration and groundwater recharge.

Thus, trees must be protected to safeguard the lives of humans. In the Sahel, the disappearance of vegetation cover, due to climate deterioration, overgrazing, and the need for firewood and timber, is increasing. The disappearance of vegetation cover pushes women further in search of firewood, and makes access to fodder difficult. Water tables are falling and food farming is declining because the soil is bare due to the absence of vegetation, leaving the bedrock exposed. Reforestation activities of all species have been undertaken since the decades of severe drought in the Sahel.

One of the reasons for the failure of reforestation programs is that, in general, people think of planting trees without asking the relevant questions: When, where, and how to plant and maintain a tree? What to do to succeed? Planting a tree is not just a matter of digging a hole in the ground and putting your tree in it. You must take into account the nature of your soil, the climate, the species that grow in your ecosystem, and also other factors, such as modern or customary legislation and various factors that challenge the survival of young plants.

How do you solve these problems?

If you don’t take all these issues into account before planting your trees, the chances of success in the short, medium, and long term are minimal. And everything is impossible if the security situation is not resolved. This year, we are working in only two of the six communes to carry out the reforestation campaign announced by the State because of the growing insecurity.

Climate change, large-scale farming, overpopulation, and displacement of populations due to conflict, gold panning, and the actions of loggers are putting a lot of pressure on the forests in Mali. And deforestation is becoming more and more widespread. For a sustainable solution to the accelerated deforestation of our country, we need better supervision of the gold panning sector, control of agricultural and pastoral activities, implementation of management plans, and the updating of laws governing forestry policy in Mali.

This ends our program today. Thank you to all our guests and all of you who are following us right now. See you soon for another program.