Mozambique: Fewer wetlands in Nampula province – ikweli

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Mozambique: Fewer wetlands in Nampula province – ikweli

1:59 CAT | 01 Feb 2021

Picture: Ikweli

World Wetlands Day, celebrated internationally tomorrow, has prompted Nélio Manuel, head of the Environment department at the provincial directorate for Territorial Development and Environment in Nampula, in northern Mozambique, to voice concern about the decline of wetlands there.

According to Manuel, the decline is due to popular pressure, on the one hand, and climate change on the other, culminating in a socio-environmental problem with the capacity to cause major problems for the local population in the future.

“At the level of Nampula, we are experiencing the threatened disappearance of wetlands. There is a tendency to reduce these lands, due to pressure from the population to use them. The province of Nampula presents a variety of wetlands, in which it is very abundant. We have many such areas, but despite this, in recent years they are decreasing, with the influence of global environmental changes. It is important that the people tend to minimise their use of wetlands, in spite of their being sustainable through farming, taking into account the ecological balance of the environment,” Manuel said.

The Nampula Directorate of Territorial Development and Environment started activities to celebrate World Wetlands Day last Thursday (28).

The district of Mossuril, on the coast of Nampula province, will host the main ceremony, both because of its numerous wetlands, and the urgency of raising awareness of the need for their protection.

“We will carry out various activities [celebrating World Wetlands Day], emphasising the importance of wetlands in our lives. They help us to regulate floods, and floods are a problem which has affected our communities a lot in recent years,” Manuel said.

By Elisabeth José

Source: Jornal Ikweli