Nyusi urges sustainable use of natural resources – Niassa, Mozambique

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Nyusi urges sustainable use of natural resources – Niassa, Mozambique

5:20 CAT | 12 May 2016

niassalion.org / Niassa National Reserve (NNR) is located in northern Mozambique, with its northern boundary the Ruvuma River bordering Tanzania. NNR is recognized as the most important protected area in Mozambique, a critical protected area left in Africa, and one of the last great wilderness areas on earth.

Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi on Tuesday urged the population of Metarica district, in the northernmost province of Niassa, to use the forestry and wildlife resources of the region in a sustainable manner.

Speaking at a rally in Namacunde locality, Nyusi said that the Niassa Reserve, the largest conservation area in the country, is rich in trees and fauna, and must be protected and preserved, in order to avoid environmental degradation.

He noted that, while the southern provinces of Maputo, Gaza and Inhambane are in the grip of a severe drought, in Metarica it has rained heavily because the environment is duly protected. “The wealth has to be exploited in an equitable fashion, so that the environment is not damaged, and Metarica does not suffer from a lack of rain, as happens in the south”.

Nyusi urged farmers in the district to use tractors to increase the area under cultivation, and consequently boost production and productivity.

“Metarica is producing, but it needs to produce still more”, said the President, “so you have to use the new technologies”. He explained that the Portuguese company Joao Ferreira dos Santos is hiring tractors out to peasant farmers, who do not have to pay for this service immediately.

As in his other recent rallies, Nyusi also stressed the need for dialogue among Mozambicans, in order to obtain peace. This, he said, was the indispensable condition for development.

“The Government will continue doing everything to ensure that peace is attained”, he pledged.

One participant at the rally complained that Metarica is classified as a “third class” district, which he regarded as a term of contempt,

But Nyusi explained that objective factors determine whether a district is considered first, second or third class. “To be considered first class, a district must have infrastructures such as banks, and Metarica does not yet have them”, he said. “It is a third class district beause it still needs a lot more support than other districts”.

“Older people know very well what Metarica was in the colonial period”, added Nyusi. “Today it is very different, We shall work to improve it still further”.

Source: AIM