The announcement that 300- to 400-year-old trees in the Kavango Region of Namibia would be cut down, has prompted the creation of an online petition.

People were urged to sign the petition, spearheaded Austin Robberts, to ensure the protection and sustainability of the "fragile ecosystem".

A description of the cause can be found on change.org, which facilitates online petitions aimed at the general public.

"Some of our most endangered trees, such as rosewood, are found on state communal land which is leased out," Robberts writes on the petition website.

"State communal land is not private property! Every communal land leasehold holder must abide by the terms of the leasehold which prohibits the destruction of said property.

"We have come to hear about those lessees who destroy our national trees, our children's heritage and plunder national heritage for own gain by selling the trees to make furniture!"

It is reported in The Namibian that the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has received more than 200 applications to down around 200 000 trees for timber use.

According to an editorial in the newspaper, one Chinese buyer pays around N$12 000 ($33) per cubic metre of timber. 

For local farmers, this means that they could get anything between  N$180 000 ($496) and N$270 000 ($745) for selling 600 trees.

If this continues, the already arid Namibia will be a desert in the coming years.

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