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Herald Reporter
THE European Union will extend a 26 million euro facility to Zimbabwe to improve natural resource management and increase the resilience of rural communities through diversified livelihoods and climate-smart agricultural practices.
EU Ambassador to Zimbabwe Jobst von Kirchmann announced the programme recently at a ceremony held at Mukuvisi Woodlands to recognise and honour five top local photo-journalists in a picture competition on biodiversity.
The funding facility was part of the EU’s Multi-Annual Indicative Programme 2021-2027, which is aligned with its strategies on the Green Deal and Biodiversity and Farm-to-Fork.
“Looking ahead, the EU is set to launch the biodiversity enhancement for resilience building initiative under our 2023 annual action plan,” he said.
“A standout example of this is the sustainable integrated landscape management of the Gonarezhou National Park, which shows how local involvement can lead to transformative outcomes.
“This project not only safeguards ecological health, but also provides communities with sustainable income streams from carbon credits, solar energy, and ecotourism to agricultural value chains.
“Through a community environment and development fund, we are ensuring that these benefits directly support the livelihoods of local people, fostering resilience and prosperity.”
Ambassador Kirchmann said there was also the NaturAfrica Initiative, with a budget of 70 million euro for Southern Africa, which exemplified the Team Europe approach of tackling biodiversity loss while creating sustainable incomes and jobs for local populations, applying an approach based on landscape and ecosystems.
“Zimbabwe will benefit from this initiative as part of several transfrontier conservation areas, promoting regional cooperation and security, while mobilising payments for ecosystem services,” he said.
Organisations rolling out biodiversity programmes were challenged to ensure the communities where they operated were at the centre of the programmes to cultivate the much-needed sense of ownership that naturally obligated them to protect the natural resources surrounding them.
People in areas where interventions to protect natural resources such as wild animals, trees, land, water and many others had to be allowed to enjoy the benefits that accrued for being good custodians to those resources so they always went the extra mile in protecting them.
“There should always be a way of making sure people and natural resources like wild animals co-exist in harmony because they share the same environment most of the times.
“Cases of human-wildlife conflict are on the increase in many areas because communities do not feel included in the process of appreciating and incorporating the natural resources into their day-to-day lives, hence the need get their input and participation in managing the resources.”
Zimbabwe continued to foster good relations with all countries and organisations across the world as part of its foreign policy thrust of engagement and re-engagement drive.
Online Reporter