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by Dahir Warsame
Sunday, March 01, 2009
In today’s reality of Somalia as a place where human suffering is rampant and on the forefront of all of our focus, environmental problems should naturally be a secondary. But the environmental challenges need to be addressed when it’s appropriate, especially when the two problems become intertwined. This will prepare us for the future, when the reconciliation process becomes reality and that our leaders put the nation back into its feet. In addition, once the country starts implementing reconstruction and development programs, we need to avoid any damages that developments might cause to the environment, in terms of destroying the remaining natural resources, polluting our air and water. However, having policies and laws in place before the industries are established can only mitigate this kind of environmental problems that come with industrialization.
Obviously, we all see in our televisions, newspapers and might even live close to areas where forests are becoming deserts, the glacial is melting and healthy airs and waters are becoming polluted and too dangerous for human consumption. The causes vary from over consumption, industrial and urban refuse that are going to our air and waters. Somalia’s most pressing natural resources challenges are double edged, on the one hand we need to stop the destruction of our natural trees for charcoal and construction, but on the other hand we have to have alternative source of energy to cook with and materials for building our homes. Evidently, these competing forces can only be reconciled if we have the leadership that brings us into those inevitable realities. We have all seen how various countries, especially industrialized nations are beginning to reverse the current trends of global environmental problems, by enacting standards and inventing ways of reducing environmental pollutions, from new generation of automobiles, homes, factories, work places and to the production of environmentally friendly products, to mention a few. The advantage that we have over the industrialized nations, is that for instance if we require that all of our new industries produce environmental impact statement upfront, it will enable us to assess the cost and the benefit of an industry to the overall economy of our nation, both short and long term. We might end up having a national economy that is compliant to the standards of today’s world realities of our global environment. Starting up with the right policies that will protect our air, water and communities, will only alleviate the need to correct the problem with bigger cost, both in terms of human lives and economies, by us and future generations.
In addition to formulating policies that should mitigate environmental impacts of industrialized economy, Somalia should come up with policies that promote and replenish our clean air and water, by rehabilitating our forests and national parks, building new natural parks, for cities, regions and at the national level. This will contribute to the healthy of our environments, but will also protect our natural heritages, such as wildlife, scientifically important ecosystems, it will also provide recreational venues for our citizens and visitors and very importantly it will generate revenues from nature tourists.
Today’s debates about the environment, both at the local and global level, should give us all a lesson about the grim realities that our world is facing and that action is needed from every nation, in order to coordinate efforts in fighting the global environmental problems, such as global warming, climate changes, desertification, species and habitat destruction and other environmental calamities.
Dahir Warsame
[email protected]
Maple Grove, Minnesota