Testimony of Mr. Nabouhane Abdallah, 77 years old, Head of the Reforestation Committee, on the consequences of deforestation on water resources and land fertility. published by HaYba FM

“My name is Nabouhane Abdallah, I was born in the Barakani district of Adda in 1944, before the cyclone of 1950. I am the father of 12 children.

The forest of our village was considered the nourishing mother of the Nyumakele region with the presence of several natural resources. Since my childhood, I remember that the forest was very close to the village. There were several species of animals which we do not see today, the Mniyakanga, Ninga of the Comoros, Kanga. In our fields, we could see the birds' nests at the top of the trees. Due to massive and illegal deforestation, today you have to walk very far into the forest to have the chance to see them.

When the settlers were in the village, we were not allowed to cultivate in the forest under penalty of sanctions. The main crops grown at the time by the majority of farmers were upland rice and corn. These crops were planted very close to the village. The harvest was always insufficient to feed a family for the whole year.

The 80s :

It was during the time of President Ahmed Abdallah, in the 1980s, that I noticed the major clearings in the forest. People began to intensify the planting of bananas and taros under the big trees even though there were forest guards. With the increase in population and the lack of jobs apart from agriculture and livestock, the process of clearing, more particularly with the cutting of large forest trees, has gradually accelerated. This is also explained by the growing need for wood from the forest for the construction of houses and to fuel the few stills in neighboring villages (Ngandzalé, Domoni, Adda, Nyumakele bas). The sale of lumber for the manufacture of doors, beds and furniture in the large cities of Anjouan has also contributed significantly to deforestation actions. However, at the time the materials used were the ax and the manual saw so the speed of cutting trees was slow compared to what is happening now with the arrival of electric saws. The sale of wood and the sales circuit were monitored, because I remember that at the time, it was during the night that wood was transported to the cities. Corruption contributes greatly to this phenomenon in the sense that both forest guards, local authorities and army agents turn a blind eye in exchange for financial benefits or compensation for the trees cut down.

Expansion of agriculture:

I also noticed that agriculture has also grown over the last 20 years with the introduction of forest market gardening in place of customary crops such as taro and banana. This is justified by many of us by the low yields in the fields close to the village due to intensive exploitation of the land for several years despite the support for the adoption of more sustainable agricultural practices from several projects.

As the large trees of the forest disappeared, there was the introduction of cash trees, more particularly cloves, and the planting of food crops such as sweet potatoes, cassava, potatoes and market gardening. Currently, species like: moiha, mhomba, mvaventré are very rare.

I also wanted to add that in our village there were several water sources in the forest and two main rivers, Shiro and Mtsatsa. These rivers flowed all year round from the forest to the sea. Today they have become intermittent and depend on the rainy seasons.

An abandoned culture:

There is also something important to point out, following the Majunga massacre in 1976, there was the arrival of new religious leaders with radicalized preaching. The population began to abandon the celebration of sacred rites. Hence the destruction of sacred sites which were also forest areas and which provided sacred products used during the rites. Among these rites, there is the famous Dade, an event well known in the village and then celebrated each year to ask the blessing of the spirits (jinn) to give good agricultural production.

Despite the few community initiatives or projects that have been in place for a really long time, they do not last. They come up against problems of local mentalities (difficulties of community consensus, family relationships, political and religious divisions, etc.) resulting in a lack of general legitimacy of State and also local rules by residents.

I think we must think about future generations since within 15 years with the same rate of deforestation even the little forest that remains risks disappearing. Hence reducing deforestation is more than urgent. The only condition for success is that there is a real desire on both sides to protect the trees that people are planting. One of the quick solutions would also be to let the forest regenerate naturally, because I notice that in the forest the trees grow quickly in the absence of human activities. Finally, the government must think of other alternatives for the thousands of unemployed young people without hope for a better future.”