Tanzanian Bishop Fredrick Shoo on nurturing faith, youth, and nature
(LWI) - At the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania’s (ELCT) has planted millions of tree saplings over the past two decades, changing climate and communities for the better. „Most importantly, people’s attitudes have changed,“ says Bishop Fredrick Onael Shoo who leads the ELCT’s Northern Diocese, looking back on impact of a reforestation initiative he started in 2005.
Initially, members of the congregations did not see why Christians should plant trees. „We had to explain that we are part of God’s creation, and as an expression of our faith, we are called to care for our environment and the natural resources that sustain us.“ As a result of this ongoing advocacy, the communities and congregations living at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro can now see the effects of the millions of tree saplings they planted in the last two decades.
Trees play a vital role for the region’s water cycle
According to a 2016 report by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), Mount Kilimanjaro’s forests are a vital water source for the surrounding towns and the wider region. Trees trap water from clouds, and water from the mountain feeds one of Tanzania’s largest rivers, the Pangani, and provides food, fuel, and building materials to much of East Africa.
The UNEP report titled “Sustainable Mountain Development in East Africa in a Changing Climate” notes that higher temperatures due to climate change have increased the number of wildfires on the mountain and thus accelerated the destruction of forests. Because there are now fewer trees to trap water from clouds, the annual amount of dew on Mount Kilimanjaro has fallen by 25 percent.
The town of Moshi, located in the foothills of Kilimanjaro, is among towns that has experienced water shortages as rivers dry up, starving farmland of water in an area already struggling to cope with a dramatic drop in rainfall.
