The Deforestation of Tanzania

It's common for us to take our surroundings for granted, but in certain countries, There is a great risk of deforestation due to the action of woodcutter acting illegally. A country that is suffering greatly at the hands of deforestation is Tanzania in East Africa, and it?s happening so quickly that its inhabitants the risk of extinction. This means that that Tanzania safari tours could soon be a thing of the past.

Tanzania is home to 33m hectares of woodland. Although this sounds like a lot, you might be surprised to learn that 400,000 hectares of forest have been lost each year for the last 20 years, according to research from the Global Forests Resources Assessment carried out by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

As well as affecting biological species, illegal tree loggers also endanger ingenious tree species, including mpodo and mninga.

The most obvious step to take would be to instill some form of security so illegal loggers are not able to carry out their activities, but this isn?t always possible. Although forest guards are in place, they can?t contend with the cunning land threat the logger pose, especially as some of them are armed.

Loggers aren?t the only cause of tree loss in Tanzania, as farming practices and volatile charcoal production also play their part.

Farmers cultivating plots on a temporary basis and then abandoning it for another is one more contributing factor towards the deforestation of Tanzania. This is because some areas of forest are cut down so that farmers can make fields.

The World Bank advises that land used for agricultural purposes grew more than 6% between 2000 to 2013, although there have been programs introduced, such as mobile technology that allows farmers to document land and resources.

There is also an initiative that supplies villagers with timber seedings, which at least looks to fix the situation in some way. However, with deforestation occurring at such a rapid rate, it stands to reason that a more reliable solution is required.

What the Future Holds for Tanzania

Given the rapid decrease of forest cover, this is a concern that Tanzania runs the risk of becoming the most endangered forests in the world. Tanzania currently has 39.9% forest cover. Deforestation is currently at 1% annually, which means that 412,300 hectares of forest were lost throughout the 1990?s.

Unfortunately, this continues into the present day. Despite there still being a large collection of trees in Tanzania, there is very little primary forest, and should it continue, it?s likely that widespread clearings will follow.