ENVIRONMENT, ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
Forestation conservation and restoration
There is need to conserve and protect the tree cover in the ASALs of HoA in order to preserve the plant diversity and enable the forests to continue providing the ecosystem services which include food, forage, timber, pharmaceuticals and fuels. The shrinking tree cover will have disastrous impacts if not managed in time. That is why at HARDA we are committed to support community groups and CBOs to establish tree nurseries and educate the community on the importance of conserving the tree cover. We will advocate for and support indigenous trees and shrubs because of their adaptability to existing climatic condition. HARDA will also support establishment of wood lots for purposes of protecting watersheds and soils.
The indigenous trees have been indiscriminately cut over the years to provide poles for building local houses which are cheaper as compared to the brick house. This has led to near extinction of some of the most palatable and nutritious trees/shrubs that provide livestock feed. HARDA, therefore, will support the communities to source for alternative building materials in order to safeguard the trees/shrubs and improve forage production.Fodder production
Pasture is the main livestock feed source in pastoral environments, essential for both animal production and health. Fodder production will address the following challenges: -
- Pasture availability and accessibility in pastoral regions where increasingly frequent droughts and rangeland degradation are threatening pastoralists’ livelihoods, and political and demographic changes are blocking migration routes and reducing access to pastureland;
- Invasive weeds such as Prosopis spp. are accelerating degradation of the rangeland ecosystems; and
- Competition over water and pasture, leading to conflicts, which can have severe consequences, including the loss of human and animal life.
HARDA will address these challenges by supporting sustainable fodder production, provide necessary inputs and establish fodder/hay stores and support the fodder value chains.
Rangeland management
Rangelands are the source of forage for free-ranging wildlife and domestic animals, as well as a source of wood products and water. Rangelands provide numerous ecosystem services including biodiversity, carbon sequestration, and cultural values, in addition to the provision of food, fiber, and fuel. However, rangelands are under threats from mismanagement and overexploitation. The resulting land degradation has reduced the ecosystem services from rangelands affecting livelihoods particularly of pastoralists communities. HARDA will use the participatory rangeland management (PRM) approach to support sustainable rangeland management and utilization in the target locations.
Supporting clean and sustainable energy alternatives to wood/charcoal fuel
The main fuel that is used in most households across the rangelands come from the trees in form of either firewood or charcoal. In many areas, trees are been over-harvested to meet the growing demand for wood fuel. In some countries in the HoA e.g. Somalia, charcoal has become an important export commodity. This will have current and future environmental consequences if not tamed soon enough.
At HARDA, we will support the use of alternative source of energy (Clean energy) in the region. We will establish small scale biogas plants for production of methane gas for household cooking and heating. We will advocate for and support the use of other clean energy sources including gas and solar energy. The use of clean energy has both environmental and health benefits.