Nyusi urges defence of the environment

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Nyusi urges defence of the environment

4:30 CAT | 08 May 2017

Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi on Friday urged the population of Ancuabe district, in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, to remain vigilant against the illegal exploitation of the district’s natural resources.

Speaking at a rally in the Ancuabe administrative post of Meza, Nyusi urged the people of this district, which is rich in forests and mineral resources, to fight for preservation of the environment.

He cited the example of illegal logging which damages both the state and the local communities who are unable to benefit from this resource. “If the timber of Ancuabe is properly exploited, then the country will gain, and so will the community”, said Nyusi.

“We need to preserve our forests”, he insisted, pointing out that people are allowing illegal loggers to corrupt them for laughably small sums in bribes.

“For every 100 meticais in bribes, the country is losing millions of dollars”, said the President. “They are making millions of dollars out of our timber”.

It was the same story with poaching and with illegal mining. Nyusi urged his audience to stop poachers from decimating the country’s wild life, while artisanal mining should only take place within the legal norms and without polluting the rivers.

“Let us protect our wealth: let us protect our forests, our subsoil, and our animals”, he urged. Nyusi’s remarks come in the wake of a moratorium on all logging in the central and northern provinces. That followed “Operation Trunk”, an offensive against illegal logging, in which 150,000 cubic metres of timber were seized at dozens of timber yards.

Source: AIM