Environmental impacts of charcoal production

In Somalia, hundreds of square kilometres of trees are cleared every month by the charcoal industry. In the same process, plants, pasture and soil are also burned, either for fuel or by runaway forest fires. Almost 30,000 tonnes of charcoal is exported from Somalia each month. The trade is controlled by warlords. In one type of charcoal oven, between two and three hundred Acacia busei trees are burnt at one time. Acacia busei is a dominant tree in the Somali landscape and its loss results in a devastated land. Acacia forest once covered vast areas of Somalia. Its destruction is the major cause of desertification.