Like most states of the African Sahel, Chad has suffered desertification—the encroachment of the desert.[1] Traditional herding practices and the need for firewood and wood for construction have exacerbated the problem.[1] In the early 1980s, the country possessed between 135,000 and 160,000 square kilometres of forest and woodlands, representing a decline of almost 14% from the early 1960s.[1] To what extent this decline was caused by climatic changes and to what extent by herding and cutting practices is unknown.[1] Regulation was difficult because some people traditionally made their living selling wood and charcoal for fuel and wood for construction to people in the urban center.[1] Although the government attempted to limit wood brought into the capital, the attempts have not been well managed, and unrestricted cutting of woodlands remained a problem.[1]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/db/Bodele_Depression_Dust_Storm_-_NASA_Earth_Observatory.jpg/220px-Bodele_Depression_Dust_Storm_-_NASA_Earth_Observatory.jpg)
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d e f Coats, Peter D. (1990). "Forestry". In Collelo, Thomas (ed.). Chad: A Country Study (2nd ed.). Washington, D.C.: Federal Research Division, Library of Congress. ISBN 0-16-024770-5. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
{{cite encyclopedia}}
: CS1 maint: postscript (link)