VZCZCXRO2958
RR RUEHAST RUEHBZ RUEHDH RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHHM RUEHJO RUEHLN RUEHMA
RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHPB RUEHPOD RUEHRN RUEHSL RUEHTM RUEHTRO
DE RUEHNJ #0460/01 2931347
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 201347Z OCT 09 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY NDJAMENA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7327
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE
RUEHZN/EST C

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NDJAMENA 000460 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR AF/C, OES/PCI 
STATE PLEASE PASS USAID/AFRICA/SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (DAVID 
ATWOOD) 
ACCRA FOR REO (FISHMAN)AND USAID/WA 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV TBIO EFIS EAID CD
SUBJECT: CHAD CONFRONTS CHALLENGE OF CLIMATE CHANGE AND 
DESERTIFICATION 
 
REFS:  A. KINSHASA 856 
  ¶B. YAOUNDE 806 
  ¶C. NDJAMENA 404 
 
NDJAMENA 00000460  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
PORTIONS OF THIS CABLE ARE SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED.  NOT FOR 
INTERNET DISTRIBUTION. 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1. (U) This is the first of three cables on Chad's approach to 
environmental affairs, conveying information gathered in the course 
of the recent visit of the Regional Environmental, Science, 
Technology, and Health Officer (REO) to N'Djamena, and also 
following a number of high-level interventions by Chadian officials 
eager to put their nation on our radar for advice and assistance in 
areas such as climate change.  The Republic of Chad finds itself on 
the front lines of climate change and desertification.  At the 
December 2009 Copenhagen Climate Change Summit, the country will 
support the broader Central African position favoring the "REDD 
Plus" approach to climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts. 
In long-term efforts to combat climage change and desertification, 
the Chadian Government intends to plant belts of trees around all of 
the country's major cities, as well as encourage the use of more 
fuel-efficient cooking stoves.  The government  hosted a climate 
change conference for AU parliamentarians October 15-17, which began 
to flesh out the possiblity of building a "Great Green Wall," i.e., 
a band of trees stretching across all of the Sahel countries from 
Senegal to Djibouti in a bid to slow the Sahara's southern advance. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
Chad's Views and Engagement on Climate Change 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) In a meeting with Charge d'affairs on relations with Sudan 
October 7, FM Moussa Faki Mahamat raised the subject of climate 
change, expressing serious concern for environmental degradation in 
Chad, and requested closer coordination with the U.S. in efforts to 
address climate change, shrinkage of Lake Chad (reported septel), 
desertification, deforestation, and reductions in bio-diversity and 
endangered species populations (reported septel).  Faki said that 
the most interesting aspect of his recent visit to the U.S. for the 
UNGA was the conversations he had with members of the U.S. Congress 
on the Congo Basin Forest Partnership.  He said that the Foreign 
Ministry would work closely with experts at the Ministry of 
Environment and Aquatic Resources to prepare for the December 
meeting in Copenhagen of the UN Framework Convention on Climate 
Change.  The Chadian delegation hoped to meet with U.S. officials at 
the event to forge new relations on environmental topics of critical 
importance to Chad's future. 
 
¶3. (SBU) On October 6, Chad's Environment and Aquatic Resources 
Minister, Professor Ali Souleyman Dabye, paid a visit to the Embassy 
to brief on Chad's plans to host a climate change conference for AU 
parliamentarians October 15-17.  The conference, part of which we 
attended, looked at potential regional efforts to combat climate 
change, including the notion of a Great Green Wall to slow the 
southern drift of the Sahel.  The Great Green Wall would consist of 
planted trees stretching across all of the countries of the Sahel 
(the geographic band of semi-arid land just south of the Sahara) 
from Senegal to Djibouti.  Salvano Briceno, Director of the United 
Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction lent UN 
support to the concept of a Great Green Wall in his October 17 
speech to the gathered parliamentarians.  In addition, he challenged 
every nation to change citizens' mentality toward the environment 
and applauded parliamentarians' plans to develop a common African 
position linking climate change adaption to risk reduction. 
 
¶4. (U) In separate meetings on October 6-7 with visiting West and 
Central Africa Regional Environmental Officer (REO), the ministry's 
Secretary General, Sandjima Dounia, and Forestry Department Director 
Abakar Zougoulou presented Chad's views on the Reduction of 
Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) climate change 
mechanism.  They both stated that Chad supported the "REDD Plus" 
approach to climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts.  They 
made clear that Chad would argue strongly for that approach at the 
December 2009 Copenhagen Climate Change Summit.  The REDD Plus 
position has been repeatedly endorsed by the Central African States, 
who are seeking financing not only for conservation efforts, but 
also for improved forest management and reforestation programs (Ref 
A). 
 
 
NDJAMENA 00000460  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
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Fighting Desertification by Planting Trees 
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¶5. (U) Chadian Government officials told REO that there had been 
little scientific study of the process of desertification in Chad. 
However, the general consensus among experts and ministry officials, 
including Ministry Secretary General Sandjima Dounia, is that the 
Sahara desert is marching southward in Chad at the rate of 5-6 
kilometers per year.  Officials also noted that desertification was 
creating higher average surface temperatures at Lake Chad, on which 
at least one million Chadians depended for water, irrigation and 
fishing.  Higher temperatures were accelerating the process of 
evaporation, which was one of many factors contributing to the 
shrinking of the lake (the causes of Lake Chad's shrinkage and what 
might be done about it will be reported septel). 
 
¶6. (U) Beyond hosting the October 15-17 conference on climate change 
and the Great Green Wall, the Chadian Government is implementing its 
own greening initiative, under which a belt of trees will eventually 
be planted around all of Chad's cities.  The project began in 
earnest on Earth Day in April 2009 when President Deby opened a tree 
nursery in Gaoui 10 kilometers north of Ndjamena ], one of two pilot 
project tree nurseries that are now in operation (the second nursery 
is in Abeche).  REO and embassy officers visited the nursery on 
October 9, where more than one million saplings are now being grown 
for eventual transplantation to form Ndjamena's green belt.  By 
2011, the government plans to have planted 10 million trees around 
Ndjamena, Abeche and other cities. 
 
¶7. (SBU) In a meeting on October 7, REO and embassy officers asked 
the Forestry Director why many of Ndjamena's large, old growth trees 
had been cut down in recent months, leaving barren central spaces in 
the capital and along many previously leafy streets.  Massive tree 
cutting in the capital seems inconsistent with the government's 
greening initiatives, and informed insiders say that the tree 
cutting was motivated by security concerns, after rebels extensively 
used tree cover in their attack on the capital in early 2008.  The 
Forestry Director went to great lengths to explain that many old 
trees were removed because they posed a danger of falling down and 
interfering with traffic and with electrical and other utility 
lines.  In addition, he claimed that they were not the right species 
for an urban setting, and the ministry had already begun replanting 
with trees that were more appropriate for cities. 
 
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Encouraging More Efficient Cooking Methods 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶8. (U) Officials from the Chadian Agency for Domestic and 
Environmental Agency also briefed REO on climate change mitigation 
projects which their agency is implementing.  Since 2002, the agency 
has distributed over 40,000 fuel-efficient wood-burning cooking 
stoves.  Through 2010, the agency plans to distribute another 50,000 
stoves, and will also continue long-term training programs under 
which villagers are trained to manufacture stoves for their own use 
and for sale in urban centers.  The agency is also planning to 
conduct a pilot project to transform agricultural waste (e.g., corn 
and wheat harvest waste) into readymade bricks that can be burned as 
a cooking fuel.  Wood is the predominant source of cooking fuel in 
Chad, and following the government's July 2008 ban on the cutting of 
live trees and its subsequent December 2008 ban on use of charcoal 
for cooking, the agency's work is helping to reduce the amount of 
wood that Chadians consume for cooking and to decrease the pressure 
on Chad's remaining timber resources. 
 
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COMMENT 
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¶9. (SBU) GoC officials have returned from the UNGA eager to improve 
international cooperation on environmental affairs, especially 
climate change.  As Chad continues to stabilize and emerge from 
civil strife and regional conflict over the course of the next few 
years, the USG and other international partners and donors could 
have additional real opportunities to engage more fully with Chadian 
officials and civil society on the country's many interlinked 
environmental challenges, including climate change and 
desertification.  Fuller engagement is dependent on available 
resources from both sides.  END COMMENT. 
 
NIGRO