Citizens of Qabatal-Feel appeal against presidential decree removing part of their forest
17 June, 2011
Khartoum,(Sudanow)- On June 2011- The Presidency of the Republic has taken a decision to end the sanctuary of a forest in eastern Sudan but, signaling a new era in the country, that decision was seriously challenged by private citizens who argue that the presidential action was a breach of the environment protection laws, and would endanger the biodiversity, threatens animal wealth and harm the people there . They did not leave it there, went to a court of law.
But the Presidential Legal Adviser failed to attend the first session which was supposed to look into the case of Presidential decision to partially end the sanctity of a forest known as Qabat Al- Feel (Arabic for Elephant Forest) in Gadarif State, Eastern Sudan. It was not clear why the official stayed away but it already gave the impression this was not a justifiable move, and that may be whether it was lack of argument to justify the presidential decision. In short it was not appreciated by the plaintiffs, some going to the extent of describing it as an obstruction of justice, according to Rifat Makawe, the plaintiffs attorney.
Was this a tactic that would ultimately lead to removal of around 500 feddans of the forests? which in turn would have disastrous environmental impact, not on the population of Gadarif State only, but the whole Sudan?? .
The forest in question lies in Gadarif State. It enjoys the status of a federal foreign, under the patronage of the National Forests Corporation since 1960 when it was decided that this was a vital area that should enjoy protection. A decision to this effect was accordingly taken and published on the official Gazetta under the serial number 1960/945. The 500 fedan forest host a number of villages, herdsmen and farmers, with a total population of over 50,000 persons. It is an area throbbing with life.
Mr. Aoun Mohamed Abdul Salaam al Sayed, and other citizens living in the villages in the vicinity, .JPG)
inside and near the forest filed an appeal to the Supreme National Court, the Administrative Appeals Organ, against the Presidential Decree Number (76) for 2011 which stipulates cancelation of the sanctity of the forest to allow for establishment of an airport on part of it. The decision was taken in response to a request by the Dams Implementation Unit at the Presidency and at the request of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Physical Development.
The villages near the forest are dwelled by a group of over 5000 herdsmen and farmers, living in the villages of Al-Rawashda, Wad Kabo, Wad al-Nayer, Wad Shambout al-Hajokat, al-Karadis, Um Khanjar, Dar el-Zain, Al-Auqal, Um Shajara, Al-Shimailab, Hilat Hassa, Wad Essid, al-Sharafa, al-Amara, al-Qibaisha, Rufaa, al-Husainat and al-Hurriya.
Aoun and his community members said they were afraid of what would happen to them and affirmed that they have personal and direct interest in cancellation of the presidential decree due to the material and direct harm that would result from felling down the trees of the forest, burying the canals and water passages and asphalting the lands of the forest to transfer it into an air port.
They said the decision of the Presidency fails to provide any guarantees for their environmental rights as those rights would vanish with the removal of the forest, saying this was a biodiversity the population has managed to preserve for over fifty years.
They argue that they have preserved the forest during all these years, but the State has decided to cancel its protection of the forest and granted the DIU the right to perform activities at the area that would negatively affect the animal and the plant presence and their selected or natural environment.
In the meantime, the Ministry of Environment and Forests has refused to respond to the request for .jpg)
partial removal of the forest, attributing its stands to major reasons that it deemed relating to environment safety and a lack of proper institutional procedures .
On March 24, 2011, the Presidential Decree Number (76) was issued slashing an area of 248, 15 feddans off the forest for that project. However seven days later, on March 31, 2011, the Ministry of Environment and Forests addressed the Presidency of the Republic requesting reconsideration of the decision on technical arguments.
But in response to a request by the Presidency and an appeal by the Ministry, the Public Area Authority submitted an area report on the forest and the site of the proposed air port, on April 19, 2011.
The report stated that the received map, which was prepared by the DIU for the said forest and the site of the proposed air port, does not comply with the international standards of maps or the map producing standards of the Sudanese General Area Authority.
Lawyer of the plaintiffs Makawe, on his part, said he has requested from the Secretariat of the Council of Ministers to produce a copy of the recommendation of the Council of Ministers to the Presidency of the Republic on the issue of the cancellation of the said forest, but discovered that there was no such a recommendation .
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Gadarif State on its part sees that it in its interest to revive al-Azaza air port, which already exists, but said that the construction of new airport, Al-Shuwak air port, is the responsibility of the DIU.
Nevertheless, DIU went ahead with its plans, removing trees of the forest clearing an area of 150 feddans, using heavy machineries, according to Hanan al-Tahir, Coordinator of the Environmental Peace Project in Gadarif State, an affiliate of the Sudanese Society for Environment Protection .
Makawe explained that exploitation of reserved forests is not prohibited, as it might wrongly be understood, but the reserved forests are generally areas where cutting is specified to facilitate replacement of the removed trees with new one immediately after cutting. Therefore, forests laws allow dwellers living within the biological range of the forests to enter those forests’ areas to make use of their produce for their living and pastures for their animals.
Reservation of forests and their organizations necessitate renewal of the citizens’ privileges in the area where the forest exists to enable them live near or around the forest and make use of the biggest possible products and within the framework of the plan of the forests. This indicates that the reserving process tends to secure the benefit for the population group living around the forest.
The forest products play a great role in the daily life of the population where they constitute pastures .JPG)
for the cattle, besides their economic benefits for the people as it is the case with Gum Arabic collected from the acacia Senegalica trees. People also consume many types of forest tree fruits. Additionally, forests provide diverse types of traditional herbal medicines that are used in treatment of many diseases including coughing, sore throat, chest and others. This indicates that the forest has a direct effect on the life of the people living around it.
More importantly, forest have indirect benefits including soil and water preservation, reducing damages caused by winds and rising temperature and staving off desert creep which threatens the agricultural process at the specific area and consequently threatens the survival of people there. Therefore, the main purpose behind preserving the forest was mainly to protect those areas against effect of heavy rain erosion besides the bed of Atbara River and al-Shuwak area.
Qabatal-Feel or Elephant Forest, in addition, provides pastures for the animal resources and the cattle of the nomads and other citizens who live in the villages around it. Three pastoral passages run through this forest extending from the east to al-Butana area and crossing the Sudanese-Ethiopian borders. There are also about 30 Haffers (water pools) in the forest upon which the citizens depend as water resources for them and their cattle, which means that leveling the earth for the purpose of establishing the air port would close the canals of the water pools and dry them. Additionally, the air port construction activities would also bar the passages to those water pools.
And according to a United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Sudan has during the past five years, lost between 250000 to 1,250,000 Hectares of forest according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report titled “Evaluation of the World Forests Resources for 2010”.
FAO report, which was published in October 2010, set Sudan among the world countries that are losing forest area at a rate of 50000 to 250000 Hectares, each year from 2005 to 2010.
The report indicated that Africa was still maintaining the highest rate of forest loss worldwide where some area registered a persisting reduction rate in the forests area of 250000 to 500000 Hectares, annually .
A Sudanese Soil Maintenance Commission in 1944 concluded that the reasons behind soil deterioration and desertification were mainly caused by misuse of land resources than due to climatic changes .
Dr. Mohamed Osman Al-Samany, a Geographic expert and Consultant at the Environment Development Service Office said bad planning; lack of development policies and programs, exhaustive exploitation of natural resources and lack of practical scientific plans have all negatively affected sustainability of the environment.
He added that there were other man-made reasons affecting the environment including removal of forests, tree felling for various reasons, population displacement to some areas which will then be converted into living areas, matter which led to desert cree;p and ultimately to desertification.
Dr. Al-Samany added that data from the National Forests Authority, has indicated in a report that the year 2015 would see forests disappearance from the Sudan. According to Dr. al-Samany, the removal of forests has serious repercussions on land productivity, which would consequently reflect on the population .
He added that removal of forests also places a financial burden on the affected communities where drought represents a real barrier before realization of sustainable the agricultural development.
Additionally, Dr. al-Samany said it threatens the irrigated sector at the traditional mechanized agricultural schemes that constitute the backbone of the national economy, employ more than 60 percent of the country’s population and contribute 40 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
He argues that that the removal of forests also increases poverty among rural communities, results in displacement and migration inside and outside the country, expands random housing around the cities and weakens the social system fabrics.
Here, it is worth recalling that Article (11) of the Sudan Interim Constitution for 2005, stipulates:
The people of the Sudan shall have the right to a clean and diverse environment; the State and the citizens have the duty to preserve and promote the country’s biodiversity.
The State shall not pursue any policy, or take or permit any action, which may adversely affect the existence of any species of animal or vegetation life, their natural or adopted habitat.
The State shall promote, through legislation, sustainable utilization of natural resources and best practices with respect to their management.
Article (23) of the Interim Constitution for 2005, meanwhile, stipulates that:
It shall be the duty of every Sudanese citizen to pledge allegiance to the Republic of Sudan, Abide by this Constitution, respect the institutions created hereunder and safeguard the territorial integrity of the country.
In particular every citizen shall:
(h) Preserve natural environment.
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(To be continued - Editor in Chief)
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