Perennial Plant Mortality in the Guban Area of Somaliland Ahmed Ibrahim Awale & Ahmed Jama Sugulle ĂŶĚůĞůŝŐŚƚĨŽƌ,ĞĂůƚŚ͕ĚƵĐĂƟŽŶΘŶǀŝƌŽŶŵĞŶƚ;>,Ϳ ,ĂƌŐĞŝƐĂ͕^ŽŵĂůŝůĂŶĚͮ͘W͘K͘ŽdžϭϬϬϭϮ͕ũŝďŽƵƟ͕ZĞƉƵďůŝĐŽĨũŝďŽƵƟͮͲŵĂŝů͗ĐĂŶĚĂƐůŝΛLJĂŚŽŽ͘ĐŽŵͮtĞďƐŝƚĞ͗ǁǁǁ͘ĐĂŶĚůĞůŝŐŚƚƐŽŵ͘ŽƌŐ Candlelight for Health, Education & Environment (CLHE) © 2011 Candlelight Candlelight for Health, Education & Environment (CLHE) Hargeisa, Somaliland Contact address: P.O. Box 10012, Djibouti, Republic of Djibouti e-mail: [email protected] Perennial Plant Mortality www.candlelightsom.org Disclaimer in the Guban Area This document has been produced with the fi nancial assistance of the European Union and Heinrich Boell Foundation; the Contents of this document are the sole responsibility of Candlelight for Health, Education & Environment and can under no circumstances be regarded as refl ecting the position of the EU and HBF. of Somaliland All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher, except for brief quotation in books and critical reviews. For information and permissions, write to Candlelight for Health, Education & Environment. Ahmed Ibrahim Awale & Ahmed Jama Sugulle Opinions expressed are the responsibility of the individual authors and do not necessarily constitute the offi cial position of Candlelight for Health, Education & Environment. Photo credits: Reach-Over Creative Ltd. Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4 1.0. INTRODUCTION 6 2.0. THE STUDY AREA 6 3.0. CLIMATE AND RAINFALL 7 4.0. VEGETATION 8 5.0. RESOURCE USERS AND NEW GRAZING TRENDS 9 6.0. SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND ECOLOGICAL USES OF THE SOME OF THE AFFECTED PERENNIAL PLANTS 10 7.0. FINDINGS 11 7.1. Extraordinary vegetation mortality 11 Annex I: Photos 13 7.2. Community Perceptions of the Death of the Plant Species 18 8.0. DISCUSSIONS 19 8.1. Anthropogenic Causes: Human disturbance: Deforestation and overgrazing 19 8.2. Droughts and Climate Change 20 8.3. Pests and diseases 22 8.4. Chemical contamination 22 9.0. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 23 Annex II: List of Common Plants and wildlife in the in the Coastal Areas 24 Annex III: Berbera Station Manual Rainfall Data 26 Annex IV: Bibliography 28 i ii Perennial Plant Mortality in the Guban Areas of Somaliland Candlelight Case Study Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge individuals and institutions that made their contributions to this study. In particular, I thank the Ahmed (Jamal) Ali Jama, regional director of the Department of Environment and Pastoral Development, the Berbera Airport Police and the community representative of the different villages visited during the assignment for their hospitality and for providing information. I would also like to fully acknowledge the staff of Candlelight who participated in the study namely: Lemma Belay, Abdiqani Suleiman, Abdillahi Khalif and not forgetting Khadar Ibrahim and Mohamed Omer for keeping the vehicles in good shape for the arduous desert driving. Special thanks goes to Haron Ahmed Yusuf, a member of Social Research and Development Institute (SORADI), for proof-reading and giving useful general comments on the text. Finally, I thank the European Union (EU) and Heinrich Boell Foundation (HBF) for funding this case study. Ahmed Ibrahim Awale Executive Director Candlelight for Health, Education & Environment 1 2 Perennial Plant Mortality in the Guban Areas of Somaliland Candlelight Case Study Executive Summary The extraordinary demise of certain perennial plants such as Acacia tortilis, Balanites orbicularis and Suaeda Fruticosa in the coastal areas of Somaliland, particularly between Berbera and Lughaya districts, has been a subject of discussion and debate among a lot of people, including the direct resource users, pastoralists in particular. Different explanation has been put forward to shed light on the causes of this problem and these include: chemical contamination, pro-longed droughts, climate change and plant diseases. This study is an attempt to fi nd an answer to the root cause of the unusual mortality of these plants, through discussion and analysis of the above mentioned factors and their relationship to the phenomenon. The historical meteorological data available for the coastal areas, though not comprehensive just like the data for other parts of the country, shows a trend of a continuous decline in rainfall. The reduction of rainfall has been greatest in semi-arid regions and along the coast (Hemming, 1966). The effects of the defi cits in rainfall can be gleaned from the condition of the vegetation. The plants became adapted to the harsh coastal environment and have developed small leathery leaves and deep roots. Most plants are deciduous but some are evergreen (Balanites and Suaeda fruticosa) and they protect themselves from water loss by having small “waxy” green leaves. However, a succession of dry seasons may result in the disappearance of perennials and an increase of annual plants. {Malte Sommerlatte and Abdi Umar (2000)}. The reason why Berbera area has attracted the biggest attention is that the problem is most noticeable in its environs. This is a result of heavy exploitation of plant resource, coupled with prolonged drought periods. Furthermore, while there is growing evidence on the progression of climate change effects in the Horn of Africa, like elsewhere in the world, the semi-arid Guban is receiving its share mainly in the form of extended periods of droughts resulting in decline of underground water levels, which is crucial to the survival of perennial trees under investigation. Therefore, it can be argued that the ensuing water stress is a key factor in the high mortality rate of plants in the coastal area. In the search for an explanation to the widespread mortality of some perennials in the study area, this study has put more emphasis on climatic and anthropogenic aspects of the subject matter. Therefore, as a follow up to this study, an in-depth investigation of the impact of chemical contamination (even though localized within Berbera environs, the Airport area in particular), resulting from leakage and/or intentional spillage, is essential. Finally, the continuous trend of the death of vegetation will defi nitely have a negative impact on the sustainability of the pastoral livelihoods in the future, as this will lead to a decline in browse foliage for livestock herds. 3 4 Perennial Plant Mortality in the Guban Areas of Somaliland Candlelight Case Study 1.0. INTRODUCTION This study seeks to assess the unusual mortality of some of the perennial plants such as Acacia tortilis, Balanites orbicularis, Suaeda fruticosa and Zizyphus hamur in some locations of the coastal areas of Somaliland. The local communities, particularly pastoralists whose livelihoods are heavily dependent on the condition of the rangeland, have been giving different explanations on this disturbing trend, which surfaced in the early 1990’s. The study also aims to identify the possible causes of the accelerated plant death in the target areas and further explore the probable impact on people’s livelihoods. 2.0. THE STUDY AREA The study area is located in the coastal area of Somaliland1 and the adjacent sub-coastal areas further south towards the Golis Range escarpment. This ecological zone has distinctive features compared to the other eco-zones of the country which include, according to earlier classifi cation2, the evergreen montane (mountainous) forest formation, Acacia Bussei Open Woodland, Gypsiferous Areas (Nugaal) and Haud-Type mixed bush. The maritime plain runs parallel with the Gulf of Aden and varies in width from 60 km in the western part of Somaliland to less than 1 km in the east and is covered with a mantle of stony or sandy alluvium and raised beach deposits3. Specifi cally, the study focused on the following areas: a) In Berbera area, the locations under investigation were: Berbera Airport, Kurta Kaaraha, the police checkpoint on the Berbera-Hargeisa road and as far as Jiifto hill (11.4 km away from Berbera), Suryo Malable on the Berbera- Burao police checkpoint (10 km) and Biyo-guure, an oasis with running stream situated approximately 16 km east of Berbera; b) Bullaxaar area: Approx. 65 km. west of Berbera; c) Abdi-Geeddi: Approx 100 km west of Berbera; and d) Lughaya, 125 km west of Berbera 1 Somaliland, formerly North West Somalia, is located in the Horn of Afr ica. It borders the Gulf of Aden to the north, Somalia to the east, the Federal Republic of Ethiopia to the south and the Republic of Djibouti to the west. Somaliland was formerly known as the Somaliland Protectorate under the British rule fr om 1884 until June, 26th 1960 when Somaliland got its independence fr om Britain. Th e independence was short-lived as the new republic merged few days later (July 1, 1960) with the former Italian Somalia to form the Somali Republic. Th e merger did not work according to the aspirations of the people, and the strain led to a civil war which dragged fr om 1980’s to the demise of Somali Republic. In 1991, representatives fr om the various clans of Somaliland held a congress in which it was decided to withdraw fr om the Union with Somalia and to reinstate its sovereignty. Since then, Somaliland has been peaceful, stable, with a functioning national government for over a decade, but the country remains unrecognized in the international arena. 2 Hemming, C.F., Th e Vegetation of Somaliland, 1966, Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London 3 C.F. Hemming, Th e Vegetation of Somaliland, 1966, Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London 5 6 Perennial Plant Mortality in the Guban Areas of Somaliland Candlelight Case Study from 70% to 82%, and in August the average is 45% (Hunt, 1951). The relative humidity on the plain appears to be closely related to the proximity of the sea, with lower humidity prevailing inland. The rainfall is highly variable. For example, Hemming (1966) put the long-term rainfall average (43 years) for Berbera at 57 mm; with the driest year 1947 at only 1.8 mm and the wettest years at 178 mm in 1906, and 161 mm in 1910.