Deforestation In Mozambique Has Affected 875,000 Hectares In Four Years

Deforestation in Mozambique has affected 875,453 hectares in four years, although it fell back during 2022, affecting mainly the provinces of Niassa and Zambézia, according to statistics collected by Lusa.''

According to a report by the National Statistics Institute, gathering data from 2019 to 2022, in the latter year deforestation - of various types of forest - fell by 31% compared to the previous year, to 209,464 hectares.

 

The peak in deforestation was recorded in 2021, with 303,689 hectares, 264,999 hectares of which were semi-deciduous (tropical) forest, 29,258 hectares of semi-evergreen forest and 99 hectares of mangrove, among others.

In 2019 deforestation in Mozambique affected 199,910 hectares and in 2020 a total of 242,390 hectares.

In this four-year period recorded by INE, the provinces of Niassa, in the north of the country, and Zambézia, in the center, alone accounted for 180,279 and 167,367 hectares of deforestation, respectively.

A significant part of this deforestation has been taking place in the Miombo forest, which in addition to Mozambique covers ten other southern African countries, including Angola.

A Swahili word for 'brachystegia', miombo is a genus of tree that includes a large number of species and a forest formation that makes up the largest tropical forest ecosystem in Africa, being a source of water, food, shelter, timber, electricity generation and tourism.

On September 24 in New York, the Mozambican President announced that “more than 500 million dollars” had been raised at the high-level dialogue on the Miombo Initiative, held the previous day in the US city.

“We managed to convince the world that we need to protect the Miombo. This requires resources, but we humbly point out that management needs to be as transparent as possible, because the Miombo doesn't just belong to Mozambique,” said Filipe Nyusi, speaking to journalists.

The event brought together dozens of US businessmen who donated to the project and African leaders, including the heads of state of Botswana, Mokgweetsi Masisi, and Malawi, Lazarus Chakwera.

“It was clear there that [the donors' financial support] is over 500 million dollars, but I don't think the figure will stop there. That's why I say we need to create a management mechanism, because it's a regional project,” Nyusi insisted, guaranteeing that ‘Miombo is now on the world map’.

The Miombo Forest covers two million square kilometers and guarantees the livelihoods of more than 300 million inhabitants of 11 southern African countries, including tropical and subtropical grasslands, bushlands and savannahs. It is the largest dry tropical forest ecosystem in the world and is currently facing deforestation problems, among others.

The Mozambican government hoped to mobilize investments to protect the Miombo Forest, estimated in the action plan at 550 million dollars (495 million euros), of which 153 million dollars (138 million euros) have been guaranteed since 2022, and now a further 500 million dollars (450 million euros) have been added.

According to the Mozambican government, which developed the project's action plan, the planned initiatives are based above all on mapping and restoring the areas most affected by deforestation, but also on monitoring and developing alternative income-generating projects to forest exploitation.

The initiative in defense of Miombo has been promoted in recent years by Filipe Nyusi, who is serving his last term in office and is not running again in the general elections on October 9. As the time to leave approaches, he assured us that it is a “relay race”.

“We run and hand over. Then someone continues (...). Until the last day I have to run, to see if I deliver at an early stage, because if I leave at a late stage the one who continues will have to make up for lost time,” he said.