Tanzanian Minister for Environment, January Makamba, said on Monday that 61 percent of the east African country was under threat of becoming a desert caused by ongoing massive environmental degradation.

Makamba told Parliament in the political capital Dodoma that the country was losing an average of one million acres of forests annually, adding that for the last decade the area lost was equivalent to the entire size of neighbouring Rwanda.

The minister said the problem was largely caused by the high demand of forest products as the main source of energy.

"Over 90 percent of energy consumed in the country is from forests. On monthly basis Dar es Salaam alone is consuming between 200,000 and 300,000 bags of charcoal with an average weight of 50 kilograms each," he said.

Makamba said the wave of massive environmental degradation was also affecting water sources and catchment areas.

He said already the effects of the environmental degradation was being experienced in the country with fluctuations in rain patterns and increased heat.

To redress the situation, he said, the government has launched a tree planting campaign across the country with a target of planting 1.5 million trees annually and empowering the National Environment Management Council (NEMC) to fight off all sorts of environmental degradation.

In 2014/15 over 264 million trees were planted and about 211 million have survived and were thriving, said Makamba.

"We will continue to provide NEMC with technical and financial support to be in the frontline of the war against environmental abuse. We have no choice but to win the war and save our country from an environmental disaster," said Makamba. Enditem

Source: XINHUA