By +Caroline Anande Uliwa
This
month the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a report
‘Global Warming of 1.5°C’ http://www.ipcc.ch/report/sr15/. It is sounding the
alarm for real action to be done within next 12 years, so the world can avoid
severe droughts, floods and other adverse effects of global warming.
“The
next few years are probably the most important in our history, the decisions we make
today are critical in ensuring a safe and sustainable world for everyone, both
now and in the future” Debra Roberts, Co-Chair of IPCC Working Group II. You may think this doesn’t affect us living close to the Indian Ocean, as we aren’t emitting as much Co2 compared to big Industrial nations like the USA or China. As it turns out they are other causes to climate change like deforestation that should have us committing to change.
“Eastern Africa’s
coastal forests and Tanzania’s Eastern Arc Mountains are globally recognized by
biologists as centers of Endemism, home to species found nowhere else on Earth.
Most of the coastal lowland forests, inhabited by people for thousands of years
have long since been cleared. A mere10% of the original coastal forest habitat
remains…”-Threatened Spaces,
Disappearing Species: The Forests and Woodlands of the Coastal East Africa
Region paper by WWF-World Wildlife Fund-2011
“In
2016 till 2017, I did research to see how the forest reserves in Dar es Salaam,
Pwani and Lindi are doing. It’s clear that they are shrinking from the top with
satellite imaging you don’t see it as clearly but when you are inside. You then
see clearly, how big areas have been cleared for charcoal making, like in
Ikwiliri at Rufiji.” Dr William Joseph Kindeketa (Ph.D), research officer in
biodiversity at Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology.
Last month at the International conference ‘Africa-Asia a new axis of knowledge
2’ inside the University of Dar es Salaam. Several experts from over ten
countries to include South Africa, USA, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, convened. To
tackle the challenge of the lack of enough research with regards to how climate
change is transforming the Indian Ocean region.
I
had the chance to walk in on these deliberations, where members present were
discussing on ways forward the convener Alexa Dietrich had this to say in brief. “Our
discussion focused on research capacity needs for scholars and institutions in
the Indian Ocean rim and issues of ethical research collaboration were at the
forefront of the conversation. Of particular interest were questions on how to
bring indigenous knowledge into broader debates on climate mitigation and to
promote urgently needed comparative work on the lived experience of
environmental change across the region.”
Watch these videos to see more of the panelists discussion <iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FCarolAnande%2Fvideos%2F1650257725079265%2F&show_text=0&width=560" width="560" height="315" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowTransparency="true" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe>
Also
on this panel were Thomas Asher- Director, scholarly convener world projects Columbia
University; Alexa Dietrich Program Director Scholarly Borderlands, Social
Science Research Council; Lecturer Majuto Clement Manyilizu from the University of Dodoma ; Paul
Rabe-Senior Land Expert Policy, Planning and Development Erasmus University; Debjani
Bhattacharyya Assistant Professor History Drexel University; Debojyoti Das Post
Doctoral Fellow History Bristol University; Philip Gooding-Post Doctoral
Lecturer History McGill University; Dotto Paul Kuhenga, PhD Candidate Climate
Change Studies University of Dar es Salaam; Almas Fortunatus Mazigo -Faculty Philosophy
and Ethics University of Dar es Salaam; Simi Mehta CEO/ Executive Director Impact
and Policy Research Institute.
 |
| Various experts linked to Climate Change studies, convene inside the Africa-Axis conference in Sept'18 at the University of Dar es Salaam. At the head of the table is Alexa Dietrich from SSCRC who were hosting the discussion. |
As
well Julius Wilbard Mngumi Lecturer Geography and Environment, University of
Dar es Salaam; Miriam Murambadoro- PhD
Candidate Environmental Sciences, University of the Witswatersrand; Namika Raby-
Emerita Faculty Anthropology California State University, Long Beach; Wilmar
Salim-Associate Professor Urban Planning Institut Teknologi Bandung and Lareef
Zubair-Principle Scientist Foundation for Environment, Climate & Technology.
The
experts are working on collaborations and ways they can spearhead closing this research gap. I for one was very happy to meet the
likes of Paul Kuhenga from Tanzania. I foresee catching up with various experts in the country as I am keen on this topic so stay tuned.
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