Armed men blamed for draining South Sudan forest reserve
The Minister of Environment and Forestry, Josephine Napwon Cosmas, has blamed the ‘‘men in military uniforms’’ for the rampant falling of trees because of charcoal burning.
The minister said several armed forces have been participating in the falling of trees in large numbers, especially in conflict-prone areas of Eastern, Central, and Western Equatoria states.
“Most of our rebellion is going on with the cutting of the trees, which is normally done by the people in uniforms. Our plan now is to put nursery facilities in all the states so that we can have enough seedlings to replace the trees cut down by the forces, ” Minister Napwon said.
She made the remarks during the handing over of the nursery facility to the state government of Central Equatoria State by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
“You know what has been happening during the war. We were not able to preserve our forest because those who were cutting those trees had guns, but with the peace, we were able to protect our trees, ” she added.
She revealed that the national ministry of environment and forestry had opened the nursery bed facility in Aruu-Junction that will be soon so that communities will be able to get the seedlings for plantation.
“The prices of the seedlings should be affordable for all, and we need every household to participate in planting fruits and some other spices of the trees so that we can be able to manage the deforestation and desertification,” she said.
Empowering learning
She appealed to the partner to help the government with the rehabilitation of the Kigulu Institute in Yei acting as a research centre for the students of forestry.
The Deputy Governor of Central Equatoria State, Nene Redento, has urged the citizens to embark on planting more fruits to fight food insecurity.
She said the country needs to practice horticulture for home consumption and export it to other countries.
“As South Sudanese, we have our fruits that are very nutritious and very healthy; why don’t we try to introduce them by planting so that we can also export them to other countries,” she said.
A senior representative of JICA, Yamane Makoto, said the upgrading of the forestry nursery facility in Central Equatoria State was implemented as a sub-project of JICA’s technical cooperation project for capacity building for comprehensive agriculture and irrigation development master plan.
“This aims to increase production capacity and improve the operation of the nursery facility. The sub-project also includes training of forestry staff in various technical skills such as breeding pest management and soil fertility, ” Makoto said.
In June 2021, South Sudan, through the ministry of environment and forestry, launched a campaign to plant 100 million trees in the next 10 years.
The launch was part of the International Environment Day celebration under the theme “Ecosystem and restoration for sustainable livelihood.”
Last year, Napwon warned of widespread tree cutting, which she said would lead to environmental degradation in the future.
She urged all the citizens to participate in tree planting for the success of the agenda to make South Sudan green.
Napwon said the government and the development partners would embark on modern innovations like regenerative agriculture, climate-smart farming practices, and reforestation and deforestation efforts that are aimed at core ecosystem restoration in the rural areas.
On the occasion, President Salva Kiir ordered the ministry of environment and forestry to work with the Juba City Council to address waste management with a focus on cleaning the River Nile.
