According to Namibia Press Agency, Minister Shifeta highlighted the expansion of land for agriculture, domestic woodcutting, and infrastructure development as primary threats to Namibia’s forests. Additional challenges include uncontrolled wildfires, selective logging, both legal and illegal timber harvesting, climate change, and habitat destruction by elephants. He reported a substantial decline in forest area from 8.7 million hectares in 1990 to 6.6 million in 2020, a loss of over 2.5 percent since 1990.

“The increase of population goes hand in hand with the increase in unsustainable use of timber for fuel, housing, fencing, and fire, which poses a severe strain on the environment as deforestation not only leads to the loss of resources used for human activities but results in desertification and severe degradation of land. This is a cause for concern to us and measures are being put in place to reverse this negative situation,” Shifeta stated.

He also emphasized Namibia’s commitment to environmental sustainability, conservation of biodiversity, sustainable forest management, and protection of natural resources. As part of the country’s updated National Determined Contributions submitted to the UNFCCC in 2021, Namibia has set ambitious climate change mitigation goals. These include reducing the deforestation rate by 75 percent, reforesting 20,000 hectares per year, planting 10,000 hectares of trees annually under agroforestry, and adding 5,000 hectares of urban forestry.

Furthermore, Shifeta noted that Namibia aims to restore 15.5 million hectares of grassland and increase the share of renewables in electricity production from 33 percent to 70 percent. He highlighted the country’s participation in global reforestation and afforestation efforts, including the annual Arbor Day celebrations in October, which mark the start of the tree planting season coinciding with the rainy season.