The Sunday News
Bruce Ndlovu, Sunday News Reporter
ENVIRONMENT patron, First Lady Amai Auxillia Mnangagwa has called for concerted efforts to halt environmental degradation in Matabeleland South, with the province reportedly losing more than 5 000 hectares of forest land to deforestation each year.
The First Lady said this in a speech read on her behalf by the Minister of State for Matabeleland South Provincial Affairs and Devolution Cde Abednico Ncube during a provincial tree planting programme at Buvuma Primary School in Gwanda District yesterday.
The tree planting programme, launched by President Mnangagwa in Mberengwa District on 4 December last year, runs under the theme “Trees and Forests for Ecosystem Restoration and improved livelihoods.”
In her speech, Amai Mnangagwa called for urgent action to be taken to halt continued deforestation in the province.
“Forests and trees contribute to food security and well-being through provision of ecosystem services, foods, income generation and habitat for wildlife.
Currently forests and trees are the foundation and safety net of rural subsistence and have innate potential to contribute towards socio-economic enhancement and food security.
Furthermore, the forestry sector produces essential products and services such as fresh air, nutritious foods like mopane worms, medicines and clean water which underpin public health the world over.
“Unfortunately, due to over exploitation Matabeleland South Province is losing more than 5 000 hectares of forest land to deforestation each year.
The major drivers of deforestation are clearing land for agriculture, settlement expansion, firewood cutting, mining activities, veld fires and illegal logging activities.
Deforestation can directly lead to biodiversity loss when animal species that live in and underneath the trees no longer have their habitat, cannot relocate, and therefore become extinct.
Deforestation can cause certain tree species to permanently disappear, thus affecting biodiversity of plant species in an environment,” she said.
With climate change making agricultural output in the province unpredictable, Amai Mnangagwa said the people of Matabeleland South stood to benefit from keeping their forests healthy, as this brought more nutritional and income generation opportunities.
“Matabeleland South Province is well-endowed with trees and forests. Climate change and climate variability have made agriculture activities to be unsustainable.
However, Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFP) can be used to supplement agriculture.
The NTFPs in the Province include marula fruits, baobab fruits, honey, macimbi, grasses and many other wild fruits.
Forestry Commission (FC) as a Government organisation with the responsibility to preside over sustainable management of forest resources and the environment is working with other development partners in the province to improve food security of vulnerable rural communities through participatory Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) and valorisation of forest products and diversified livelihoods strategies.
For communities in this province, amacimbi are at the top of the list among an array of natural resources that play a crucial role in sustaining the livelihoods of local communities.
In Zimbabwe, the highest occurrence of amacimbi is in this province,” she said.
Amai Mnangagwa also said the decimation of the country’s forests had heightened the chances of natural disasters affecting Zimbabweans.
With this in mind, she said, the Office of the First Lady was now prioritising the education of the young on the importance of their natural environment.
“Forest degradation and other disturbances in nature has brought about climate change, increased natural disasters and emergence of new pandemics. We must learn and adapt fast to global crises being caused by nature.
My office is doing everything necessary to build and maintain the culture of tree planting by everyone across all age groups and previously, I launched the ‘For Every Child a Tree Programme,’ targeted at grooming our school- going children into taking responsibility for the environment through tree planting.
In catching them young we are raising them to be responsible citizens, who will take up responsibility and action towards the protection of the environment.
The country is currently implementing NDS1 (National Development Strategy 1) which, as an economic recovery programme stresses the need to address cross cutting issues such as the environment through mainstreaming environmental protection, climate resilience and natural resources management,” she said.
Stressing the importance of forests for the continued well-being of both individuals and communities, Amai Mnangagwa said the conservation of forests was an issue of national importance.
“Forests, being an integral component of the environment therefore require national attention and it is my hope that through the tree planting campaign I will be spearheading, communities will be sensitised to these issues and will contribute to the conservation of the forest resource.
Ladies and gentlemen, trees and forests play a fundamental role in environmental management and mitigate the effects of climate change.
Therefore, their preservation is critical for a sustainable environment.
“Article 5 of the Paris agreement recognises the role that trees and forests play in mitigating climate change effects by converting carbon dioxide into oxygen.
The ability of trees to convert carbon dioxide into oxygen makes them an important element in the ecosystem as they both cleanse the atmosphere of carbon dioxide pollution as well as reducing the destruction of the ozone layer.
Trees also provide additional income and dietary diversity enabling our communities to cope with climatic change effects such as droughts.
Fruit trees offer a multiplicity of nutrients to our communities reducing occurrences of dise
ases that are related to poor diets like night blindness.
To maintain the water cycle for continued water availability our societies have to inculcate in themselves a culture of tree planting and conservation,” she said.
Amai Mnangagwa applauded the Forestry Commission for its work in spreading the gospel of environmental regenerations, while also encouraging farmers to venture into tree planting, as it presented a little explored avenue for income generation.
“Esteemed invited guests, allow me to applaud the Forestry Commission for the leading role it is playing in replenishing our depleting forests and creation of new ones.
In Beitbridge there are quite a number of individual farmers who have planted an average of 100 oranges and they have started to sell their fruits to the Schweppes Juicing Company.
I am also reliably informed that Top pick Investments, a wholly owned Zimbabwean company has recently planted more than 88 000 citrus trees at the highly integrated Zhovhe Farm, with the number set to increase in phases up to 277 000 trees.
This is commendable and I would like to encourage more farmers to venture into such projects.
“Tree planting is one of the many ways to fight deforestation.
I would like to urge you as provincial and district Government authorities, businesses, Traditional leadership and NGOs to join hands with the Forestry Commission, law enforcement and environmental protection agencies, to educate our societies about the disadvantages of forest degradation and to bring unrepentant transgressors of these anti-forest activities to book,” she said.
