- 2 days ago
Eco Africa - Restoring our Trees
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00Trees are the planet's life support system.
00:20They produce the oxygen we breathe, store huge amounts of carbon and regulate the planet's climate.
00:27Yet, for all that they give us, we have not looked after them.
00:31Across the world, trees are under threat from deforestation, disease and changing weather.
00:37But we can still restore what has been lost because we need trees more than ever.
00:43Welcome to Echo Africa. I'm Malama Mukonde in Lusaka, Zambia.
00:48And here's my co-host, Chris Elens.
00:50Hi, everyone, and a warm welcome from Me Too.
00:58Thank you for joining us.
01:00And there's what's coming up.
01:03Making football a force for environmental change in The Gambia.
01:11Tackling sunbird strapping in Cyprus.
01:14Kampala is one of the fastest growing cities in Africa.
01:30As it grows, so does the challenge of keeping it livable.
01:33Average temperatures in Uganda are rising and its capital city is feeling the heat, literally.
01:39That's where these guys, these guys can be helpful.
01:45They are not just lovely to look at.
01:47They are the lungs and the heart of a city.
01:50And of course, that means keeping them healthy.
01:56This man's job description includes hugging trees with his measuring band.
02:02Nelson Tuyambaze is an urban forester in Uganda's capital, Kampala,
02:09and one of the people tasked with mapping the city's trees.
02:13Kampala started an inventory in 2016.
02:17One surprising finding was that only 20% of the capital's trees are native species.
02:23Across the city, urban foresters like Nelson are still busy logging existing trees,
02:28monitoring their size and health.
02:30When I'm examining the tree here, if you get the tree, look at the physical appearance.
02:36It's morphology.
02:37How does it look like?
02:38Is it very green?
02:41Is the original color changing?
02:43How is the bark?
02:45Is the bark okay?
02:48How are the roots?
02:51You get?
02:52Healthy trees play a key role in cooling down urban areas,
02:57where heat can build up quickly.
02:58They also improve air quality and bind CO2.
03:03So trees are now seen as a vital part of Kampala's infrastructure.
03:08With the data collected from tree mapping,
03:11researchers can assess the effect on the city and make improvements.
03:15With his colleague Susan Nalwada,
03:18Nelson also assesses data collected by air quality sensors positioned across the city.
03:23Fine particulate matter emitted by cars, open fires and kerosene stoves all intensify the heat.
03:30We have what we call soot, like black carbon, and it is always in the troposphere.
03:38That is like the nearest level of the atmosphere, like 8 to 15 kilometers in the atmosphere.
03:44So it is concentrated in the atmosphere.
03:49And once the sunlight hits, it gets absorbed in that soot.
03:53And when it absorbs in that soot, we start experiencing the heat here on our planet.
04:01And such a sensor is there to show us that.
04:06And when we experience such heat stress, we have to come up with intervention.
04:10Action is already underway.
04:13Kampala plans to plant thousands of trees in areas that could become urban heat islands.
04:19The city wants to triple its tree cover and has introduced strict new building regulations.
04:24There are guidelines on green infrastructure.
04:28In case you want to put up maybe a house of such square meters,
04:33there is a percentage of green that is situated there which you must leave.
04:37In case that construction is going to cut more than 10 trees, also the guidelines are there.
04:46For every tree cut, the developer will have to replace with two trees.
04:51When new trees are planted, it's also important to ensure they survive and grow.
04:57These students have come together to plant trees as part of the Roots Campaign,
05:02which aims to plant 200 million trees across Uganda by 2026.
05:07It's getting schools, institutions and members of the public involved.
05:12The effort is already bearing fruit.
05:15The UN Food and Agricultural Organization has named the Ugandan capital a tree city.
05:21Four years in a row, one of only two African cities.
05:25I'm driven by that kind of inspiration.
05:27That gave us goros, that gave us marriages and I hope with more resources of which Uganda
05:35is committed to advance the climate change agenda, more resources will be allocated in
05:41in green and we're going to see that together.
05:48And Nelson is passing on his drive and dedication so that Kampala and other cities in Uganda can become even greener.
06:01I'm a big football fan.
06:03Now, one of the things I love about the game is that it can bring people together and unite them.
06:08Imagine what could be achieved if the team spirit and ambition that the sport inspires also served a good cause,
06:16like protecting the environment.
06:19This week's Doing Your Bit takes us to the Gambia,
06:21where young people are turning success on the pitch into a win for the planet.
06:26The Gambia is football crazy.
06:36It's the heartbeat of the country's youth culture.
06:40And these young players are not just chasing goals, they're scoring for the planet.
06:45The Ballers for Life Youth League launched a nationwide campaign called Goals for Trees.
06:51For each goal scored in the league this season, a tree is being planted.
06:59Recently, we've realised that the system has changed a little bit where we experience high temperature
07:07and erratic rainfalls here and there.
07:10And research shows that a lot of it is attributed to climate change.
07:16The goal of the project is not just to plant fruit trees in various households,
07:21but also to entrust them to the care of the people living there.
07:25The players want to ensure the trees grow, to feed and benefit the families.
07:31Footballers like Buba believe sports should go hand-in-hand with protecting the environment.
07:36After all, athletes especially need clean air and temperate conditions.
07:42Nowadays, by three to four, even to five, the sun is always very hot.
07:47And that is, I guess, due to the cutting down of trees.
07:52Climate change is a problem for everyone in the country or in the world.
07:56So as sports people, I encourage all my sportsmen to participate in planting trees for a better future.
08:03The project only started in 2024, but it's already exceeding expectations.
08:13In a country where football is so big in youth culture, it shows that passion for sports can help protect the planet.
08:20Trees are life. Where there are trees, there is life.
08:25And where there is no tree, there is no life.
08:28So planting these trees will go a long way to helping the families.
08:34This is about our life, sustainability.
08:36Because whatever is planted here, I believe it will live a long way with the communities.
08:42As we've seen trees cool down the planet, clean the air and restore nature,
08:52and we should be planting as many as possible.
08:55But planting is one thing, looking after fresh saplings and making sure the flourish is another.
09:01We're heading now to Romania and Eastern Europe to see how a group of dedicated locals are turning to tech
09:09to help their city's young trees survive and thrive.
09:15Red alert for trees in the city of Timisoara.
09:21Andre Bora has helped develop an app that shows which trees are thirsty and need watering.
09:27Although it's autumn and it rained three days ago, the ground is still cracked.
09:37Which means there's actually still a drought, and a lot of water is needed, as much water as possible.
09:46Bora had noticed his home city had been getting greener,
09:50thanks to a big planting drive by the local authorities.
09:53However, climate change, budget constraints and staff shortages
09:58have made it difficult for the city's employees to keep on top of watering the saplings.
10:05So the IT specialist decided to step in.
10:13It all began with me carrying a watering can from my home to the nearest tree.
10:17Then I'd put canisters in my car, small ones, big ones, some broke, some leaked, all kinds of things.
10:25But somehow we carried on.
10:27Over time it became a kind of hobby to water the trees in the evening.
10:34To make the process more efficient, he created an app with web designer Iannel Marginion.
10:40The Green Twins app shows the location of the trees and in real time whether they need to be watered or not.
10:47And it can do more.
10:51We can add new trees very easily.
10:53You arrive at a place via geolocation, you click, add a tree, and you have a new tree.
10:58And you can give it a name.
10:59At first, Andrei's friends joined in for fun, but soon the project was born.
11:07Graphic designer Tunda Maia saw their social media posts and decided to join in.
11:14First of all, you could consider it a sporting activity, like the farmer's carry exercise.
11:20But here you carry five-litre canisters to the tree and back.
11:23And it brings people together.
11:26It makes it easier for them to participate in activities like this one.
11:31The initiative grew from an after-work hobby into almost a part-time job.
11:36At first, my motivation was to help City Hall.
11:40But over time, you begin to get attached to the trees.
11:43I find myself walking down the street and looking at them and their leaves,
11:47checking whether they're watered and healthy.
11:49For the authorities, the work done by the Green Twin volunteers is a great help.
11:57We appreciate such initiatives, and they really are a reliable partner.
12:01They are showing commitment to the community and caring for the environment,
12:05especially during the summer months, which have become increasingly hot and dry.
12:09The app developers are also busy developing additional functions to get more people interested.
12:22On the IT side, we'd like to add a QR code to the trees,
12:27so that any passer-by can scan the code and see data about who watered it,
12:32who is responsible, what species it is, what its name is, when it was planted and so on.
12:37The app already shows where the trees are and when they were last watered,
12:46so you can also plan a route near your home.
12:50Now we're seriously thinking about gamifying it and making it really cool and fun.
12:56In some ways, the app already resembles a game.
13:04If you water a tree, you get points.
13:06But that isn't the main reason why people use it.
13:12You could say that it awakened the civil spirit in me,
13:16which had been a bit dormant.
13:18Probably because we're so busy with our everyday lives,
13:23we don't have much free time left.
13:25I realized it can be very relaxing,
13:28and that helping out makes you feel really good.
13:33And the Green Twin project really does help the trees, the city and the environment.
13:38But its mission doesn't end there.
13:39Our ultimate goal is to ensure that everyone looks after the trees around their own apartments.
13:48And this could well happen.
13:50After all, their budding tree-watering movement has already, quite literally, borne fruit.
13:58Trees are homes, food sources and resting stops for birds.
14:03Our next report is from Cyprus.
14:05A stopover for millions of migratory birds traveling between Europe and Africa.
14:11But here, they are vulnerable to organized poaching, even species that are protected.
14:17And this is not just a local issue.
14:19It threatens biodiversity and ecosystem resilience.
14:24You know, threatening us to live.
14:27Andrea Rutigliano is a member of the Committee Against Bird Slaughter,
14:35a Germany-based environmental NGO.
14:39Each autumn, he travels to Cyprus to help combat the illegal mass-trapping of migratory birds.
14:45His efforts have made him a persona non grata among the island's poachers
14:49and those who see the practice as a Cypriot tradition.
14:52The level of violence is very high in Cyprus, the highest we've ever experienced everywhere in Europe.
15:00Normalities, people assaulting us, shouting abuses.
15:04We've been beaten up many times.
15:05I got my ear membrane torn by a punch.
15:08There was a court case after that.
15:09But also in the night, car chasing us without lights or chasing us without number plate, registration number.
15:15Or sometimes dangerous driving.
15:19We have been shot at.
15:21Our cars have been shot down.
15:22Yesterday, four tires have been slashed by professional trappers.
15:27So we know that when we are in Cyprus, it's like a warfare.
15:30The conflict centers around the Black Cap, known in Cyprus as Ambella Puglia.
15:36These small migratory birds pass through the island each autumn and spring on their seasonal journey.
15:41Yet for many, the migration ends in Cyprus, where they're trapped in large numbers and sold as a rare delicacy on the black market.
15:51High demand has driven their price up to 100 euros per dozen, attracting not only amateur trappers, but also organized criminal groups involved in their capture.
16:00There are so many birds migrating in Cyprus during this season.
16:05So in the night, they put these night decoys, the collars that attract the birds to these trapping sites, the gardens.
16:12Some are fenced, some are not fenced.
16:14And during the night or in the morning, they set up these huge nets, sometimes more than 20 meters long, 6 meters high.
16:21And they can catch up to 150 birds in one net, we have seen with our eyes.
16:28Then they take down the birds, they bite their neck and throw in a bin, collect them and sell.
16:34And these birds are sold in tavernas, in restaurants, and they make big money out of it.
16:40The black caps are trapped using mist nets and limesticks, two illegal non-selective hunting methods.
16:47This causes irreversible damage to the ecosystem, as dozens of threatened, endemic and migratory species,
16:55protected under national law, EU directives and international conventions, are also trapped and killed.
17:03Petros Anagiotos is an officer with the Game and Wildlife Service, the authority responsible for combating poaching.
17:10He says completely eradicating the problem is no easy task.
17:14To a great extent, illegal trapping has been reduced compared to what was happening 20 years ago.
17:23However, in some cases, especially within organized groups that do it exclusively for financial gain, it still persists.
17:32And that's where both our service and the police focus our efforts.
17:35The fines imposed exceed 60,000 euros, but you can understand that when a group is organized for profit,
17:46they may not find these fines a deterrent, even though for most people they're very high and discouraging.
17:52According to data from environmental organizations, such as the Committee Against Bird Slaughter,
18:02the number of birds killed has declined compared to previous decades.
18:07However, between 500,000 and 1 million birds are still killed in Cyprus every year.
18:13There is no political will to eliminate the phenomenon.
18:18What we see is they react positively when we make enough pressure.
18:22But I've never seen in the last 10 years anything like proactively done.
18:27So they have no strategy.
18:28They just say police doesn't need to do this job.
18:31The disbandment of the anti-poaching unit of the police in 2019 was a characteristic example of state-level backtracking
18:40due to pressure from local communities and economic interests.
18:45The risk of Cyprus being exposed to international bodies led the new government to re-establish the unit in 2023.
18:53Efforts are already underway to ensure that all members of our service are armed,
19:03as currently only part of the staff is equipped.
19:06We're also promoting a bill that would authorize our personnel to use cameras and drones,
19:12with the recordings admissible in court as evidence in such cases.
19:16Advances in technology and new legislation offer hope that the illegal trapping of migratory birds
19:35could be eradicated in Cyprus.
19:38But activists say that the political will to enforce them is essential.
19:42In many rural communities in the Sahel region,
19:48women are rediscovering indigenous trees and plants that grow wild,
19:53which were once an important part of their ancestors' diet.
19:57In times of changing weather patterns, these have many benefits.
20:03The women are skilled at plucking the leaves off the twisted branches of Jiga trees.
20:08In the village of Danbuda, they're in demand.
20:12The women can harvest the leaves all year round,
20:15using them to cook or to sell at the market in the nearby town of Zinda.
20:23Before, we used to go into the bush to cut wood that we could sell to buy food.
20:28Then one day, I went to Zinda for a funeral,
20:30and my relatives took me to Sahara Sahel Foods in their neighborhood
20:35and told me that they buy Aduwa fruits desert dates.
20:38So I started selling these to them.
20:41People at home laughed at me.
20:43Why would anyone buy Aduwa fruits?
20:45But then, two others joined me.
20:48Now, 40 women do it too.
20:52The ideas to harvest and market native wild plants came from Joseph Garvey.
20:57He grew up in Niger and had long been thinking about the benefits
21:00of reviving native dryland trees, such as the wild Hansa species.
21:05They used to have Hansa.
21:07They used to eat Hansa, but only in times of hardship.
21:10So when we started working with them, we started buying their Hansa.
21:13At first, they were reluctant.
21:15They didn't think we were serious.
21:16But they realized that we were actually serious.
21:19We were actually buying it.
21:20And they got involved in harvesting a lot of Hansa and delivering to us.
21:23And they became very happy from the extra income they could make.
21:28But we weren't quite satisfied because they were harvesting in order to sell us.
21:32But they were still considering it something that they'd rather not eat themselves.
21:36Now they've started to change their minds.
21:39As a social enterprise, Sahara Sahel Foods raises awareness in local communities
21:43about native trees that can provide nutritious leaves, fruits, and seeds.
21:49And they've learned to appreciate them.
21:50A few years ago, we had a special training program.
21:54And we were showing them different recipes, different ways of preparing Hansa,
21:58making nice dishes, nice meals from it.
22:02And that really struck on.
22:05So the year after, they said that they had very little Hansa to sell us.
22:10And the reason, they said, was that, well, basically,
22:13now they were eating the Hansa themselves.
22:15So instead of selling it to us, they'd rather keep it for their own needs.
22:20Exactly the result he'd wanted.
22:24Sahara Sahel Foods has been active in the Zinda region since 2014,
22:28and these days works with 1,500 small farmers and 80 villagers.
22:34They supply various fruits and leaves from over 20 local plant species,
22:38which are then used to produce oil, jam, spices, and pastry.
22:42Sixty products are now sold around Niger.
22:46And some of them are also exported.
22:50Up until today, many people thought that these bush foods are just local stuff
22:55and don't have any particular value.
22:57They forgot about them because they just grow wild in the bush.
23:01But now people have begun to understand that our products are useful.
23:05For example, doctors at Sandeir National Hospital
23:07prescribe foods from our shops, such as Hansa porridge, which helps diabetics.
23:15Sahara Sahel Foods cookery courses are popular.
23:17Today, instructor Hawa Habu is showing the women what they can do with Hansa fruit.
23:27It has a high-protein content.
23:35We have taught them a lot of things, such as how to cook Hansa
23:40with sauce made from horn-fruited jute, which they didn't know,
23:45Hansa porridge, which they didn't know either,
23:48and jujube pop biscuits.
23:51Joseph Garvey also teaches at the University of Zinda.
23:55He works together with Dr. Abdul Rabu.
23:59The topic of local wild plants is also on his curriculum
24:01and has regularly been sending students to train with the enterprise since 2018.
24:06The Sahara Sahel food site has become a training ground for our students.
24:15It's where they go to learn about the plants
24:17that are most often found in arid and semi-arid zones here in Niger.
24:26After 10 years in the Zinda region, Garvey's project is flourishing.
24:32Many smallholder farming families are now experts on various local tree varieties.
24:36and how to care for them
24:37and are passing their insights on to their children.
24:44You know, a child will watch you from a very young age.
24:48My daughter understands that it's with the income from these efforts
24:52that will buy them certain items.
24:55So she follows in our footsteps
24:57and that's why from time to time she sows trees too.
25:01Tamila Yisouf has a regular income and can feed her family well.
25:07She's even been able to build her own house.
25:10The small seeds have borne fruit.
25:15We hope the show has given you lots to think about
25:18about why trees matter
25:21and why our future depends on them.
25:24Thanks for watching, I am Chris Oloems in Lagos, Nigeria.
25:28Bye for now.
25:31It's goodbye from me too.
25:33Don't forget to check out our social media channels.
25:36We do have lots of content that's definitely worth sharing.
25:39You can also write to us at echo at dw.com.
25:42I'm Alama Mukonde in Lusaka, Zambia.
25:45See you next week.
25:46I'm Alama Mukonde in Lusaka.
Recommended
3:13
|
Up next
26:11
26:11
26:11
26:11
0:59
26:11
0:48
0:50
0:50
49:48
23:06
26:10
5:47
26:11
26:11
26:11
Be the first to comment