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Allen Khumalo, Sports Reporter
INDIGENOUS tree planting ambassador Never Bonde will donate 200 medium pots of trees at the ongoing National Youth Games in Chinhoyi as part of the seedling nursery project.
This will see each team walking away with 20 trees to plant in their respective provinces.
Some of the indigenous trees he will donate include Brachystegia Spiciformis (Msasa), Acacia Albida, Dichrostachys Cinerea (Mpangare), Ficus Sycomorus and Khaya Nyasica.
“My intention is to let people know the importance of planting and preserving our indigenous trees. Local trees are fast disappearing and one of the reasons is that our country is growing in terms of urbanisation and as a result we are losing a lot of forests,” said Bonde.
“Through this donation, I want children to understand that indigenous trees are important because they provide food, security and environmental protection.”
He said his donation came after realising that sport can play a huge role in fighting deforestation.
“I was overjoyed by what happened during the opening ceremony of the Rio Olympics when athletes were each given a seed and a cartridge to plant a native Brazilian tree as they entered the Maracana Stadium. In total, 207 species were presented, each representing a country in the games.
“That is what we should be doing as Zimbabweans and not waiting for other countries to lead the way while we follow,” he said.
According to Forestry Commission statistics, the country loses about 330,000 hectares of land through deforestation annually.
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