Waste
Everywhere we have traveled throughout the North of Africa, rubbish has been strewn throughout the streets, river banks, roads, roadsides and anywhere the wind so chooses to place it. Obviously, the root cause of this is the lack of proper waste disposal system. However, it has surprised us the lack of concern the general population show for the issue. The attitude of the general populous clearly led the Sudanese teachers we met in the Northern Village of Kerma some despair: the rubbish was providing an environment for a glaucoma causing fly. In previous travels and living in Guyana we found that in the absence of a proper disposal system people generally devise a system to prevent their village / town from stinking, be it something as simple as putting the rubbish in one place, often in a pit essentially creating their own landfill / incinerator. For some reason this mentality simply does not exist in the places we have been through.
Water
The most prevalent and pressing issue we have encountered on our travels has undoubtedly been water. In Libya the construction of the Great Man Made River demonstrates a country under severe water stress. The long term environmental impact of this is unclear but unlikely to be without consequences. Necessitating a 2000km pipe, 4m in diameter to pump into a reservoir with a capacity of 6.8 million cubic metres smacks of a country with a drink problem that needs to be addressed to achieve a sustainable balance.
The Ankh we saw adorning the wall of pharaoh's tomb was the symbol of life for the Ancient Egyptians, it is in fact a representation of the Nile and its delta. This is still the case in modern day Egypt, the country is utterly dependent upon it as a provider food and electricity. If one is to look at Egypt from above, it is clear that there is not much else other than desert over the rest of the country. As we travel we will be reaching the sources of both the Blue and White Nile as far south as Uganda and we currently sit at the confluence of these rivers in Khartoum. The number of countries that the river runs through makes Egypt precariously dependant on the agreements that are in place over the management of the river. At present the agreements appear strong but if water demand begins to dramatically out way supply it is hard to imagine this becoming a source of friction in the region. 
The building of Aswan high dam in 1973 was Egypt’s attempt to master the Nile, a sign describing the wonders of the dam, strategically placed at the tourist friendly viewing point, proudly proclaimed, 'The High Dam project is considered the Egyptian challenge against the silent nature.' The social impact of the dam was dramatic: hundreds of hugely significant monuments and historic sights were only saved from submerging by a unprecedented international rescue effort (including Abu Simbel temple below). The dam also internally displaced 40,000 people who the Sudanese government forcefully relocated to the present day Wadi Halfa, where the ferry from Egypt docks. The dam now blocks vital sediment from traveling down river. This has lead to the erosion of farmland at the Nile Delta. Unquestionably the dam has made Egypt more productive at the present but if there is more erosion as a result of a reduction in volume of sediment being transported, then this productivity will be short lived. The cheap electricity the dam and the old dam provide is central to the functioning of the country but, once again, the dam appears to be a relatively short term solution to a long term environmental issue.
Short term needs against long term sustainability
A key question that arises again and again is, how do you balance the short term needs of the people against the needs of future generations to be able to continue to use the land and be productive? We cannot claim to have answers and in our brief time traveling we cannot claim to know if these issues are being addressed, we would be interested to hear if anyone reading this has greater knowledge. Short term thinking in the developed world is driven by profit or election cycles but in the developing world it is driven also by survival. This was something made patently clear when we walked through the slums of Cairo. An obvious and legitimate culprit for a major stress on the environment is the human population. Once we find the human population guilty, it is very hard to see how population can be part of any solution.
Environmental awareness
It’s hard to judge the level of environmental awareness in countries where you don't speak the language or spend much time. However it is clearly in the public consciousness, in Egypt we did speak to a number of people with an awareness of and concern for environmental issues. In the weekly Al Ahram English newspaper there was a big article about climate change focusing on the effects on Cairo. Particularly it commented on the increased rainfall over the past few years which the drainage system has not been able to cope with, something we paid testament to with sodden feet. In Sudan we have also encountered anecdotal evidence from farmers that in recent years it rains a lot less in the North and more in the South. In the North at least this has not had any effect yet as the crops grown are entirely dependent on irrigation using diesel pumps to draw water from the Nile. It has also been said that the conflict in Darfur was in part caused by climate change and China’s interest in the area are both issues we shall return to in a later log.
In both Sudan and Egypt we have noticed an under utilization of naturally available renewable sources of energy, in particular solar hot water. This was a cost effective and common sense solution to a everyday problem we saw in Tunisia but not elsewhere. The areas we have traveled through are obvious candidates for solar panels, which we have seen used minimally, attached to telecommunication masts. It is an encouraging sign that the Sudanese five pound note carries images of wind turbines and solar panels. How much this is talking the talk as opposed to walking the walk we do not yet know. What is not in doubt is that there are powerful resources available which need to be utilised.
2 comments:
On Radio 4 one morning recently someone advocated covering a large area - many square km, but probably not so large in a Saharan context - in photovoltaic cells. Ample, he said, to supply the electricity needs of Western Europe. Hmm. Have you encountered any issues connected with fuelwood, I wonder? A resource of increasing scarcity in many parts, we're told: used non-sustainably, it's acquisition a very significant drain on the time and/or financial resources of the family; and it's over-exploitation a factor in desertification. Have you seen trees cherished, protected, planted?
Deforestation is indeed a major issue in the countries we will pass through. Particularly the production of charcoal which is used widely throughout Sudan. There has been a lack of awareness from local people about these issues which has made it hard to explore. Efficient cooking and its importance in Darfur will feature in the next environmental log.
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