Remarks of the Somali Minister of National Resources to the Conference on Forestry

Istanbul, Turkey
January 21-22, 2013

January 22, 2012 Markacadeey

Honorable Minister of Forest and Water Affairs Dr. Veysel Eroglu

Honorable Ministers,

Excellencies

UN representatives and experts

Distinguished Guests,

Esteemed Brothers and Sisters:

• I am humbled by your warm and generous welcome to this great country, Turkey, and I am touched by the spirit of brotherhood and sincere generosity of the people of this country and this great city of Istanbul. I want to take this opportunity to thank you on behalf of my government and the people of Somalia for your tremendous support in this historic moment for both our people.

• For the first time over two decades, Somalia has its first national government and naturally this brings both new opportunities and challenges. We understand the enormous challenges ahead as we enter a chapter of history that will be characterized by unity, economic recovery, security stabilizations, revival of national institutions and massive reconstruction programs. In fact, the signs of recovery have already been seen as Somali people are picking up the pieces and are amazingly optimistic about the future of their country. Somali expatriates are returning to the country for the first time in large numbers to the capital, where reconstruction activities and robust economic activities are observed everywhere.

Excellencies

• I am here to argue that Turkey is central to this optimism and had it not been His Excellency, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s August 2011 visit to Somalia, my country would still be in worse condition today. His visit marked a milestone for not only Somalia, but for the entire human race as Prime Minister Erdogan challenged the world that this was not a problem for the Somali people only but in fact, that Somalia represents a failure for civilization. Turkey has been an exemplar in terms of showing the world the real commitment it takes to solve the crisis in Somalia; it sent hundreds of its professional sons and daughters to Somalia when everyone opted to stay in comfortable locations in neighboring countries. Under the name of Turkish projects, Mogadishu is undergoing comprehensive reconstructions, something that we desperately needed to move forward and overcome the economic stagnations and massive unemployment in the country. We see Turkish engineers, medical doctors, government officials and humanitarian workers in Somalia. The Turkish Airline flights to Somalia are always fully booked. Because of the rising demand and exodus of Diaspora communities to Somalia, I think we will need more of those services to ensure returning Somali professionals are rightly channeled for the reconstructions of their homeland.

• My president, His Excellency, Hassan Sh. Mohamud has set the tone for the direction of Somalia from the day he was elected. His six priorities, among others include Security, economic recovery, and good governance and this vision has received tremendous support from the parliament and the people of Somalia. We have made extremely successful gains on the security front and as a result thousands of people are returning to Mogadishu on weekly basis.
Excellencies

• On Forestry, we have devised a plan that will address the environmental crisis that is plaguing much of the fragile ecosystem in Somalia. However, it is clear that economic activities are linked to natural environment as people rely more on these resources for sustenance. Agriculture, livestock, and fishery form the economic base for the people of Somalia. Nevertheless, decades of conflict and illegal criminal activities have devastated the environment; from deforestation to illegal toxic waste dumping on our seas, causing food and health related complications.

• More recently, our government has rightly identified the export of charcoal as one of the main causes of deforestation and desertification and conflict in Somalia and as such, an international ban has been imposed on charcoal. Preserving the forestry in Somalia’s fragile ecosystem requires substantial amounts of collaborations at the International Level before we implement comprehensive environmental protection – with teeth – at the national level. As you know, Somalia can’t tackle the charcoal export alone; we need to address the demand source where 100% of charcoal export consumption comes from the Gulf States in the Middle East. The charcoal trade is a revenue source that finances the radical terrorist group of Al Shabaab, which constitutes 50% of their revenues – before we ousted them from the coastal town of Kismayu - which has enabled them to wage a deadly campaign of terror against the Somali people.

Excellencies

• Currently, the Ministry is working on policies, in which environmental protection and forestry management remain important priorities for my government. We have already conducted assessments on the status of the remaining forestry and it seems – despite the massive environmental damages – that there are effective tools that we can deploy to address the issue of deforestations. First, we intend to address this issue at the grassroots level by introducing environmental education that could be imbedded in the school system or in the educational curricula. Secondly, we are planning to undertake a national reforestation project that will empower communities to green their neighborhoods and beyond, projects such as Agro-forestry. Thirdly, we must adapt cross-sectoral environmental protection laws and to show how committed my Ministry is in achieving those goals, I have contacted colleagues and professors at York University in Toronto, to help me develop policies on areas my Ministry identified as key priorities, and two days ago the university held a one day plenary session where the topics presented ranged from principles of ministerial governance and policy process, to legal principles of environmental and natural laws. And finally, and most importantly, preserving the forestry requires serious commitments that invest on finding alternative sources of energy – one that is renewable and affordable to the public. We believe that we can ascertain those challenges and create the right conditions that can promote environmental protection and sustainable forestry management.

• Somalia is keenly aware that good natural resource management and environmental protection are essential for sustainable development. Somalia is culturally and ethnically homogeneous society but persistent weak institutions and poverty have been major sources of conflict and environmental degradations. After the disintegration of the central authority in 1990, Somalia has seen a near total breakdown of legislative controls governing use of natural resources which left the ecosystem devastated.

• The Ministry of National Resources has the mandate to develop the natural resources in a responsible and sustainable manner. Our aim is to promote farming production, investment and marketing of national resources. Our immediate goals include provision of clean water, develop water conservation and sanitation services, develop strategic reforestation policies, develop our fishing industry and expand our Livestock and agricultural sectors.

• However, as experienced by many developing countries, societies in resource rich countries remain poor as development goals are unmet due to weak institutions and feeble economic policies. In this view, infrastructure and institutional capacity development are critical in socio-economic development and overall progress towards peace, security, development, and good governance. We understand that rebuilding of the national institutions is crucial to moving the country forward, including implementing effective green strategy that can restore the forestry to offset the pace of environmental degradations in the country. I intend to establish a robust and well-resourced Ministry with well-trained workforce.

• However, I am aware and mindful that this is not going to be easy as our government does not have the financial and human resources necessary to meet the urgent needs that exist. But I believe I have a very good idea of how we can make it all work with the scarce resources at hand. And that is why I am here in Istanbul. I want to make sure that our friends from the international community, especially Turkey, remain as our strategic partners in every area of our development stages.

• With that, Excellencies, I thank you for this wonderful opportunity and welcome the outcome of this global initiative to protect and sustain the planet forestry.


Thank you!

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