Where All the Trees Gone?

As I journeyed this vast country from the southern part to the north a feeling of loss and disappointment and dread crept up on me all at once.

The reason Is this; a decade a go when I first traveled my country there was greeneries and trees 🌳 to see everywhere but now they are all going in a fast rate.

In the south where the youth do not engage in farming there are stil thick forest to see with trees as old as my forefathers but in the north all you will see is a vast hectares of plain land hat has been used for farming in the last farming season and the only trees you will see is tha of mango fruit trees. That's the only tree they do allow to live. At first you will think it is the farming activities that's causing the decline of trees and our green forest but no its not the farmers nor herders, but those that sells charcoal.

You see charcoal is now a very lucrative business for the people in those rural communities. They fall these tress and set them on fire to burn till it's left with hard charcoal,which they disintegrated to chunks of pieces and bagged them.

Most of them are taken to the country capital where the price of kerosene and gas is increasingly skyrocketing. So charcoal was a cheaper alternative for cooking and probably heating of homes during the harmattan season.

But now the price of charcoal has gone higher than that of kerosene or gas because there are limited trees to fall for burning. In my observations many people who used charcoal before now are reverting back to gas as its cheaper than charcoal and kerosene. That's a good news for the environment, hopefully they will allow time for the environment to heal back because the way the climate is getting hotter we need more trees around to help.

Now charcoal dealers are not the only one to blame for this lack of forest conservation.

In the south eastern part of my country a few weeks back I read in one of the legacy media that a governor in one of the Eastern States sold large tracts of land that is meant for plant and forest conservation to real estate developers. 😳. Yeah me too was shocked.

In my state in the south, lands that were left during the military regime before I was born that were meant for conservation has been shared by politicians in power. It's gotten so bad that there are no more forestry nor virgin lands that when new administration comes they resort to land grabbing...

It's really worrisome as it's not only the climates that are affected but our traditional medicines too are being destroyed along with al these tree falling and wildlife that depends on them are been destroyed along with them either as food or as a result from the burning.

I fear it will get worse as no one Is talking about all this in my country not even the NGOs who take money for this work to be done.

Even If an administration talks about planting trees,it is to embezzle public funds. You hear story of planting some 100 trees for millions of money..

It's harder on the farmers and herders as its increasingly difficult to find a shade to cool off from the heat when they are out in the farm or walking their livestock in the field.

I'd like to do something about this.

But it's hard here when you not in government.

I know some good people here that do good with planting trees