restoring damaged land 205
Helping trees plant themselves
In Somalia, East Africa, there are few
trees due to the dry, desert climate. But the
number of trees has gotten even smaller
because the few trees that do grow are
often cut down to make charcoal. Some
of this charcoal was used by the Somali
people, but much of it was sold to other
countries. When a woman named Fatima
Jibrell saw this problem, she started a
campaign to prevent the sale of charcoal
to other countries. “When we have barely
enough for ourselves,” she said, “we cannot
afford to let others exploit our resources.”
Fatima’s campaign was successful. But by then, there were very few trees
left. So she started a campaign to promote new tree growth in Somalia. She
believed that the best way to reduce the severe poverty of her people was to
bring trees back to Somalia.
The land in Somalia is very hot and dry, making tree planting difficult.
And because most people in Somalia move from place to place
with the seasons, it was not practical to expect
people to plant trees and care for them. So
Fatima started teaching people to build low
rock fences as they traveled around the
country. Even though the land is very
flat, Fatima believed that water would
find its way to the lowest places and
would bring life with it. During
the short rainy season, these
low fences helped build up soil
nutrients, and plants and trees
began to grow by themselves.
Now there are more
trees growing in
Somalia than there
have been in
many years.
A Community Guide to Environmental Health 2012