Mamou: “forests are becoming vulnerable…” concern of the regional water and forest inspector

The Mamou region, located 250 km from Conakry, has a tropical climate and several classified forests. But, despite the efforts made by the authorities, environmental threats are real in the region. Already, the observation is that few aspects of life will remain outside the serious consequences of environmental degradation. Mamadou Tounkara, regional water and forest inspector of Mamou, takes stock of reforestation activities and sounds the alarm on the effects of increasingly inevitable climate change. Interview.

Universesciences: global warming coupled with the coronavirus pandemic this year, tell us how is the environment in the region?

Mamadou Tounkara:  in the Mamou region, the environment is doing well. The 2019 presidential initiative made it possible to support the Ministry of the Environment in the execution of reforestation activities. On this, the Mamou region was supported to the tune of 45 hectares distributed between the three (3) prefectures. First, the prefecture of Mamou had 27 hectares, then the prefecture of Dalaba benefited from 10 hectares and finally the prefecture of Pita had 8 hectares. These activities were carried out during 2019.

Apart from these activities, there have been several activities of NGOs, civil society organizations, decentralized services and communities. Which meant that in 2019 we had 174.19 hectares of reality. Furthermore, at the end of the year, we were obliged to take stock of the presidential initiative. An action plan which took into account 16 activities should be carried out in 2020. Among these 16 activities, we were able to carry out 13 activities taking into account the coronavirus pandemic.

From November 15 to December 31, we set early fires. Next we put the nursery allergens. We also have the sanitation axis driven by communities. So, we provided 120 agents from state services, decentralized services, community assistants, community relays and municipal councils. In the sub-prefecture of Dounet and that of Ourékaba we have triggered 508 villages including 230 villages in OuréKaba and 278 villages in Dounet. Among these 508 villages we were able to certify 489 villages. There is therefore a shortfall in 19 other villages.

Universciences: according to you, the coronavirus pandemic has put a brake on certain activities, are you going to carry out these unexecuted activities?

Mamadou Tounkara:  we plan to relaunch activities that were not carried out during 2021. It is also planned to raise awareness among communities around legal instruments. This will be done in national languages, because when working with people, it is necessary to speak to them in an accessible language. Today, we manage 36 forests in the region including 18 classified forests in Mamou, 7 classified forests in Dalaba and 11 classified forests in Pita.

Universciences: Is there a real risk of environmental degradation in Mamou?

Mamadou Tounkara: It must be recognized that today's forests are vulnerable; with climate change, people are attacking the banks of rivers. Manufacturers of fired bricks and farmers who practice market gardening are attacking the banks of watercourses. We are also witnessing excessive cutting of green wood to power bread ovens. Some are even capable of diverting certain waterways. With all these degrading factors, we are witnessing the advance of the desert in certain places in the region. It’s true, when we talk about climate change, it has a bad impact on the environment.

Universciences: with the drop in water levels due to climate change, is there a risk of certain watercourses disappearing in Mamou?

Mamadou Tounkara: The problem linked to climate change is not specific to the Mamou region alone, it is a global problem. In the West, for example, we are witnessing the melting of glaciers which leads to floods. If we take into account history, in ancient times there were many rivers which disappeared in certain cities. Some rivers are also seasonal. Poor agricultural practices, particularly slash-and-burn cultivation, have contributed to environmental degradation.

Universciences: in part, it is the activities of man on earth which constitute these degrading factors of the environment, so, have you involved the populations in the protection of environmental assets?

Mamadou Tounkara: This is one of the fundamental reasons for our mission here. We are here to crown not only the legal instrument but also all other activities related to environmental protection. We are doing it today with the communities. This is also part of the action plan which must be carried out in 2021 and which involves the translation of legal texts to make them more accessible to communities. Most of these forests were classified from 1936 to 1948. Since that time, almost no forest has been classified. This is why responsibility for declassifying a forest rests solely with the President of the Republic.

Universciences: what messages do you have for local populations who carry out harmful and degrading activities on the environment on a daily basis?

Mamadou Tounkara: time has given us three types of soil due to climate change today. Degraded soils; eroded soils and degraded and at the same time eroded soils. But unfortunately all this is due to the activity of man on earth. Therefore, populations must know and apply good practices in order to protect the environment. The misuse of pesticides that pollute continental waters is a major problem for our environment. If we talk about classified forests it is because our elders protected them against degrading factors. It is necessary that populations agree to limit the harmful effects on classified forests.

 

Comments collected by Mamadou Kindy Bah returning from Mamou for AJSG