On 15th March 2019, tropical cyclone Idai made landfall in Mozambique as one of the worst tropical cyclones on record to affect Africa and the Southern Hemisphere. The long-lived storm caused catastrophic damage in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Malawi, leaving more than 1,000 people dead and thousands more missing. Idai is the second-deadliest tropical cyclone recorded in the South-West Indian Ocean basin, behind only the 1892 Mauritius cyclone. The cyclone’s exact death toll is expected to never be known.
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Mozambique’s high rate of deforestation may have magnified the impact of Idai. It now appears like some of the farmers who saw their crops devastated by the cyclone are turning to charcoal-making as a way of generating much-needed income.
This solution may have the perverse effect of exacerbating the deforestation, thus amplifying the impact of the next cyclone.
A recent article published by The New Humanitarian reports that:
The effects of tropical storms such as Idai can be worsened by deforestation, explained Allan Schwarz, founder of the Mezimbite Forest Centre, a community-based programme that trains people in forest conservation, produces sustainable timber products, and participates in large-scale replanting programmes. Without shade, he said, air pressure fluctuations between the land and the sea can increase wind speeds.
“A healthy forest (also) slows down the speed of water until it reaches the ground,” Schwarz said. “This makes it possible for about 80 percent of the water to get absorbed into the soil… If the forest is lost, water moves faster and is substantially less absorbed.”
Mozambique has lost 10% of its forest cover since the year 2000.
The article goes on to highlight the toll that illegal deforestation has taken on parts of the country.
Authorities have attempted to limit and control charcoal production by requiring licenses, but production still continues illegally around Gorongosa National Park. The park, at the southern end of the Great African Rift Valley, used to support thriving wildlife, but its fragile ecosystems suffered during Mozambique’s 1977-1992 civil war. Recently, it has also seen some of its trees being cut down for timber or charcoal.
Some 20 people – seven Chinese nationals and 13 Mozambicans – were arrested last year for illegal logging in an area near the park.
China buys the majority of Mozambique’s timber.
- FEMA is the US Federal Emergency Management Agency. The agency’s primary purpose is to coordinate the response to a disaster that has occurred in the United States and that overwhelms the resources of local and state authorities.
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