ENERGY-MALI: Wood – The Gift That Can’t Keep on Giving

By Almahady Cissé Reprint | | Print |

Almahady Cissé

BAMAKO, Apr 13 2007 (IPS) - Year by year, the figures have increased relentlessly. While some 600,000 tonnes of wood were transported to the Malian capital of Bamako in 1994, according to official figures, 750,000 tonnes were sent in 1997. This year, the city is projected to consume 900,000 tonnes – and the country as a whole, seven million tonnes.

“If nothing is done to reverse this trend, the difference between supply and demand for wood will be negative by 2010,” predicts the ‘2006 Report on the State of the Environment’, issued by government.

But, reducing wood consumption in this West African country is something of a Herculean task, given the key role it plays in helping Mali meet energy requirements.

According to Niarga Keita, national coordinator of the Environmental Programme to Support the Fight Against Desertification (Programme environnemental d’appui à la lutte contre la désertification), 80 to 90 percent of Malians depend on natural resources for their daily needs. “In fact, the entire economy of the country relies on these natural resources,” says Kéita.

Notes Awa Sow Cissé, executive director of the NGOs Co-operation and Support Council (Conseil de concertation et d’appui aux ONG): “To do her cooking, the Malian woman burns large quantities of wood often chopped by wood cutters who have only the sale of this wood to feed their families.” The council groups 172 non-governmental organisations, all involved in the fight against desertification in Mali.

Then there are entrenched beliefs about the availability of wood.

“Until now, popular belief has had it that forest resources are a gift from God on which you can draw as much as you want, and that God will provide for their replenishment,” says sociologist Hamidou Coulibaly. As a result, people use wood in an “excessive and lawless way”.

A June 2004 law has sought to protect certain forest species against excessive cutting; these include the oil palm, African fan palm, gum tree, shea tree and mahogany tree, says the national director of nature conservation, Félix Dakouo.

Government has also suspended the export of wood obtained from living trees since 2004, while only the sale of dead wood is to be permitted from now on (the removal of this wood does not constitute a threat to forest survival).

In addition, authorities have organised awareness raising campaigns for women – and indicated their willingness to support projects initiated by women that are aimed at preventing the uncontrolled chopping of trees, especially living trees.

Similar activities have been undertaken by civil society.

The executive secretary of the Co-ordinated Women’s Associations and NGOs of Mali (Coordination des associations et ONG féminines du Mali), Traoré Oumou Touré, has started a programme to encourage women to make greater use of energy-efficient stoves, which use four to five times less wood than traditional stoves.

In addition, she is helping women persuade their husbands to stop chopping down living trees.

But, problems persist.

“Those who exploit forests are only interested in wood from living trees which is used to make charcoal or furniture, amongst other things. This wood is chopped down without any distinction being made between species,” says Dakouo.

The current situation led Environment Minister Nancouma Kéita to strike a gloomy note at the opening of a forum on the environment held recently in Ségou, south-western Mali: “Our ecosystems are no longer respected today. Neither Ségou, nor Mali, deserves such treatment from their children.”