Environmental Issues

Let's think green for a moment... or brown, since that is that color that Burundi is fast becoming, unfortunately. Livestock overgrazing and expansion of agriculture into marginal lands has caused serious soil erosion. Now, for the greenies (like me) who have no idea what soil erosion is, I'll tell you: soil erosion is actually a natural process in which water, wind, or tillage remove top soil (sand, dirt, rocks, etc.) and deposit it elsewhere. The loss of this nutrient-rich and water-holding soil layer reduces the overall soil quality. This isn't necessarily a problem if the wind and water are removing soil at roughly the same rate that new soil is created. Unfortunately, this isn't happening in Burundi.

Another environmental problem in Burundi is deforestation (or, the uncontrolled cutting of trees for fuel). Soil erosion has caused a scarcity of decent farmland, contributing to an increased demand for viable agricultural land. Burundi is an extremely small and densely populated country, however, so there is very little land to work with as it is. So the individual subsistence farmers and their families, as well as urban industries, decided that the trees just had to go...

But it gets worse! Deforestation has destroyed a number of wildlife habitats, threatening the indigenous populations of most species in Burundi. For example, gorillas and elephants are now extinct in Burundi due to loss of habitat (I mean, have you ever heard of an ape that didn't live in a tree? Didn't think so.).

However, not all news from this tiny country in East Africa is doom and gloom. Burundi is actually filthy-stinkin' rich in regards to natural resources. Petroleum, nickel, copper, and gold - among other resources - are abundant here. But (and there's always a "but" when we're talking about Burundi), the tribal violence and civil unrest in my country have sucked the state coffers dry, leaving very little to invest in harvesting these resources, and international companies are hesitant to put their dollars in Burundi when there is so much government embezzlement and civil unrest. It would be an unwise investment. But, gosh, can you imagine how much our economy would improve if we could convince the world to invest in our resources? We're sitting on a wealth of untapped opportunity!

So, what's to be done? Well, we can counter soil erosion and deforestation with a more concentrated effort at land conservation. Crop rotation, careful monitoring of livestock grazing (so, maybe rotating cattle from one grazing area to another), careful management of irrigation, and only partially harvesting forests (for example, alternating trees or creating a reserve) could go a long ways to rehabilitating the environment here. We could even reintroduce gorillas and elephants to the country when their habitats are more secure. As for our abundant natural resources, a more stable political and civil situation would make Burundi more attractive to investors for a number of different projects, not just concerning petroleum and gold.

It really all comes back to the tribal warfare, doesn't it? I think simply loving our neighbors would solve a lot of the problems in my country.

Information taken from The Encyclopedia of Earth, http://www.eoearth.org/article/Burundi