Awesu Shaaban Ramadhani

Awesu Shaaban Ramadhani is deputy secretary of the Jozani Environmental Conservation Association (JECA) in Zanzibar. He has spent his entire life in Zanzibar and has seen first-hand the changing climate and surrounding environmental issues. He recalls his childhood when he was able to go fishing ‘bondeni,’ just nearby his home, where there were plenty of fish and mangrove trees.  Today, the mangorove trees nearby are gone.  He now worries about the rising water levels, which has caused water to cross over inland to the roads.  His main concern is that this pattern may eventually cause a physical split in the island to form Ugunja north and Ugunja south.  He believes that a major cause for the increased water is the cutting of the mangrove trees, which are meant to absorb water and reduce the amount of water going inland. The effects of deforestation are therefore having a direct impact on the amount of water now coming inland. Additionally, deforestation of the mangroves has also affected fish production as these trees provide a good breeding ground for certain fish. 

 

Deforestation has also had impacts other crops. Awesu observes an increase in calaboose monkeys in people’s farms eating fruits and other crops. He believes this is because there are not as many trees available for them to feed from.  And this creates a cycle of destruction – whereby people are seeking additional outlets for revenue generation, and often that is fuelwood.

 

Another factor that has led to deforestation is the increase in tourism on the island. As big hotels are coming in, they cut down trees. He feels there should be strict guidelines for hotels wishing to build - if they cut down trees, then they should replant trees as well.

 

Awesu and JECA are involved in the CARE-HIMA (Hifadhi ya Misitu ya Asili) REDD project.  REDD stands for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation, and the CARE project, amongst other things, aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in Zanzibar.