We are pleased to share Issue 4 of our quarterly newsletter “SWALIM Update” for the period November 2013 – January 2014. The newsletter provides updates on SWALIM water and land information management activities such as: SWALIM Early Warning Information Saves Lives; Building Resilient Communities through Disaster Risk Reduction and Early Warning; SWALIM Completes Survey of Strategic Emergency Boreholes in Northern Somalia; Fostering Accountability through Cash Based Intervention Remote Monitoring; SWALIM supports Somaliland Ministry of Agriculture to survey agricultural areas among others. We hope you will enjoy this edition. You feedback will be highly appreciated.

Somalia is situated in northeastern Africa and covers an area of 637 660 km2. It has the longest coastline in Africa, being bordered by the Gulf of Aden to the north and the Indian Ocean to the east. The country is bordered by Kenya in the south, Ethiopia in the west and by Djibouti in the north-west. The country can be divided in five distinct physio-geographic zones differentiated by topography:

Following more than 20 years of civil unrest, environmental information for Southern Somalia is scarce while there is clear evidence that the war economy fueled by the conflict is rapidly depleting the country’s natural resources and especially the woody biomass. Wood charcoal production is one of the most relevant businesses supporting war regimes such as the extreme Islamist group Al Shabaab, which has ruled in Southern Somalia from 2006 to 2012 and is still occupying large areas. In this study we first used Very High Resolution (VHR) satellite imagery of February 2013 for developing a semi-automatic mapping method of charcoal production sites as a proxy of tree loss over a 754 km2 woody area along the Juba river in Southern Somalia. The accuracy of semiautomatic charcoal production site detection varied between 80 and 95% as compared to visual interpretation and reduced significantly the subjectivity and the required time. The analysis was then applied to previous years (2011-2012) for a 52.6 km2 subset of the study area, and led to a tree loss estimation of 8.63%, corresponding to 15,434 trees over the 3 years period. The results are crucial for better understanding the dimension and impact of charcoal production in Southern Somalia and are a first step towards the development of a charcoal production monitoring system.

We are pleased to share Issue 3 of our quarterly newsletter “SWALIM Update”. The newsletter provides updates on SWALIM water and land information management activities such as: Completion of the Preliminary Estimation of Land Cover in Northern Somalia, training on Disaster Risk Reduction and Early Warning, how Geo-spatial Data and Technology ins being used in Natural Resources Management in Somalia, training in River Gauge Reading among others. We hope you will enjoy this edition. Your feedback will be highly appreciated.

We are pleased to share Issue 2 of our quarterly newsletter “SWALIM Update” for 2013. The newsletter provides updates on SWALIM water and land information management activities such as: Monitoring and evaluation using remote sensing, the source of the Kismayo charcoal, assessment of the Gu 2013 Rainfall performance, capacity building activities that have taken place in the past 3 months among others. We hope you will enjoy this edition. You feedback will be highly appreciated.

Following more than 20 years of civil unrest, environmental information for Southern Somalia is scarce while there is clear evidence that the war economy fueled by the conflict is rapidly depleting the country's natural resources and especially the woody biomass. Wood charcoal production is one of the most relevant businesses supporting war regimes such as the extreme Islamist group Al-Shabaab, which has ruled in Southern Somalia from 2006 to 2012 and is still occupying large areas. In this study, we map and quantify the tree loss suffered by the region due to the rapid increase in illegal charcoal production and export over recent years. Very high-resolution (VHR) satellite imagery is used to visually count charcoal production sites as a proxy of tree loss in two sample areas within the lower Juba region of Southern Somalia. The image interpretation allows mapping the charcoal production sites as well as estimating tree loss rates above 7% over 5 years. The results are crucial for understanding the exact dimension and effects of the loss of woody biomass and for planning conservation and recovery interventions in the concerned area.

The newsletter provides updates on SWALIM water and land information management activities such as flood and drought early warning systems, hydro meteorological monitoring, status of the Somali water sources, land degradation, remote sensing monitoring, and water and land baseline and thematic studies. You will also be updated on the capacity development activities, particularly the training courses from which you can benefit. The training courses are open to all Somali stakeholders, especially women. We hope you will enjoy this first edition of 2013 and those that will follow. You feedback will be highly appreciated and will help us improve future editions

Webiyaada Jubba iyo Shabeelle waa durdurrada kaliya ee joogtada ah gudaha Soomaaliya. Waxay ka soo dhashaan gudaha Itoobiya, halkaas oo ay ka yimaadaan biyaha qulqulaya boqolkiiba 90 wax ka badan. Dooxooyinka labada webi waxay fidsan yihiin aag dhul oo bedkiisu yahay 174.600 km2 gudaha Soomaaliya. La socod aasaasi ah ee labada webi iyo dooxooyinkooda ayaa waxay ka dhex socotay mashaariicdii hore ee SWALIM, oo u dhigaysa aasaas wanaagsan hab aad u horumarsan, kormeerid webi oo joogto ah iyo isku dubaridid xog (xarumo hawo automaatik ah, cabbiraado qulqul oo joogto ah, indha-indhayn caroo-degis iyo kormeerid tayo biyo oo ay weheliso habab tijaabo ah oo lagula socodo xaaluf dhul). Dooxooyinka Juba iyo Shabeelle waxaa sidoo kale loo yaqaan “Dambiisha kibista” Soomaaliya: Waa xarunta waxsoosaarka beeraha iyo xoolaha iyo hooyga dadweynaha Soomaaliyeed badankiisa.

The Juba and Shabelle rivers are the only perennial streams in Somalia. They originate in Ethiopia, where over 90 percent of the stream flow is generated. The two river basins cover an area 174,600 km2 within Somalia. Basic monitoring of the two rivers and their basins has been ongoing in the previous SWALIM projects, laying a good foundation for more developed, continuous river monitoring and data processing (automatic weather stations, continuous discharge measurements, sediment and water quality monitoring together with pilot land degradation monitoring systems). The Juba and Shabelle basins are also called the ‘breadbasket’ of Somalia: It is the centre of agricultural and livestock production and home to the majority of the Somali population.

Aqoonsi, qiimeyn iyo horumarin khayraad biyo-dhul-hoose ayaa hadda mudnaan degdeg ah u leh gargaarga degdeg ah iyo horumarinta muddo dheer gudaha dhamman dalalka Geeska Afrika oo ay saamaysay abaar iyo biyo yaraan. Sida jawaab u ah arrintaan, UNESCO, bishii May 2012, waxay bilawday hindisaha “Xoojinta Awoodda si gudaha Geeska Africa loogala dagaalamo Abaar iyo Macluul: Soo bixinta Khayraad Biyo-dhul-hoose si loo helo biyo gurmad degdeg” taasoo ay Dowladda Japan taageero ka geysanayso. Mashruucu guud ahaan wuxuu higsanayaa in la khariidadeeyo abaar-u-adkeysiga khayraadka biyo-dhul-hoose ee gudaha meelaha ay dhibaatadu saameysey iyo xoojinta awoodaha goboleed si loo maarayo biyo-dhul-hoose oo abaar-u-diyaargarow u dhaco. Si looga faa'iidaysto shabakadda la dhisay iyo qotada khibrad hawl-la-wadaagta UNESCO ee FAO-SWALIM (Maareynta xogta biyaha iyo dhulka Soomaaliya) gudaha Soomaaliya, ayaa la rasmiyeey heshiis iskaashi oo dhexmaray UNESCO-FAO kaasoo qeexaya qaabka-shaqo ee mashruuca guud ahaan. Iyadoo mashruucan ka qayb ah, SWALIM waxay dhawaan dhamaystirtay sahan biyo-jooloiyadeed (hydrogeological) iyo qiimayn aagag dhul laga xushay Somaliland iyo Puntland kaas oo uu ka soo baxay macluumaad waxtar ah oo ku saabsan khayraad biyo-dhul-hoose ee la heli karo kaas oo ku biirsamaya hawlahii hore ee SWALIM ee maareynta macluumaadka kheyraadka biyaha iyo dhulka Soomaaliya.