Kayanza : Deforestation of Kibira worries its residents

The natural forest of Kibira in its part of district of Matongo in Kayanza province (northern Burundi) is threatened. According to some sources, activists of the ruling party are cutting down trees in this forest to build houses under the complicit eye of local authorities. The Ministry of the Environment warns anyone who is caught cutting down these trees. INFO SOS Médias Burundi

According to information on site, the Kibira National Park is threatened by the surrounding populations that carry out activities inside the protected site.

“They cut down trees to build houses but also for firewood. There are also traditional practitioners who look for tree bark to treat certain diseases,” say residents of Matongo, who point out that most of the people who dare to cut down these trees are CNDD-FDD party activists, especially Imbonerakure (members of the party’s youth league) under the complicit eye of local authorities.

These residents are asking authorities to do everything they can to protect this park.

The district administration says it “bitterly notes the destruction of the Kibira” without however incriminating activists of the ruling party.

For its part, the Ministry of Environment warns the population that anyone caught cutting down trees in the Kibira “will be punished in accordance with the law governing forests in Burundi.”