NAIROBI, 30 January (IRIN) - The president of Somalia's self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, Gen Mahmud Muse Hirsi, has appealed for help in tackling an environmental emergency caused by increased charcoal burning, which has been compounded by greater numbers of displaced people since 1992.

Hirsi said due to the influx of displaced people and drought-induced displacement of pastoral communities - which pushed them to urban areas - more acacia trees are being burned for charcoal.

Hirsi urged international donors to support solar cookers and other alternative means of energy instead.

In an open letter this month, he called on the international community to "join the Puntland government in permanently moving Puntland households from charcoal dependency to solar, wind and other cooking alternatives …"

Fatima Jibrell, the 2002 Goldman Environmental Prize winner and founder of Horn Relief, told IRIN on Tuesday: "Cutting trees for charcoal can destroy in a few minutes a tree that took over 50 years to grow. No matter how fast trees might be planted for reforestation, they cannot catch up with the destruction of charcoal production."

Puntland is one of the driest areas of Somalia and is seriously affected by deforestation caused by charcoal burning. Moreover, Jibrell said, its arid climate means the soil is mostly saline and trees take a longer time to grow than in other regions of Somalia.

Jibrell, a renowned environmental campaigner in Somalia, has been fighting deforestation for the past decade. She said if the current rate of deforestation caused by the charcoal trade continues, it could end the pastoral way of life.

"Although drought and civil war are contributing factors, the charcoal trade is the root cause of environmental destruction in Somalia," she added.

The situation is made worse by the presence of an estimated 70,000 displaced people in Puntland, with Bosasso - the region's commercial capital - hosting 28,000 and the rest scattered throughout the region. Some were pastoralists who settled in urban areas after losing their livestock and have become "settled charcoal users, increasing the use of charcoal", Jibrell said.

To contain the situation, the international community needed "to support recovery of pastoral livelihoods in the region, in the form of debt relief, restocking and creating alternative livelihoods for people who burn wood to make charcoal", she said.

In 2000, Puntland prohibited the export of charcoal through the port of Bosasso and along the Red Sea coast. The police force is involved in trying to curb excessive cutting of trees for charcoal production.

Jibrell said donors should give Hirsi's call serious consideration.

"Donors need to promote and fund alternatives," she said. "They also need to research and become well informed about the various alternatives to charcoal that are available."

ah/mw

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