Forests: Please stop veld fires

Stephen Ephraem
THE case of Chipinge losing 1 400 ha of forests to veld fires that was featured in the last issue of this publication cannot go unchallenged. It’s difficult to believe that there are still some people who get satisfaction in lighting a match stick to ravage a forest. The 1 400ha that Chipinge district lost out is just a drop in an ocean as compared to destruction that Manicaland suffered as a province. According to Forestry Commission, fires destroyed at total 67 090ha of forests in Manicaland province alone. Shocking isn’t it?

After glancing at these figures one might question if people aren’t ashamed of such a trail of destruction. It is of no surprise that some sections of community might argue that forest fires are nothing new in life. They might reason that since time immemorial, the season after winter and just before the rains is known traditionally that farmers burn grass to acquire new shootings which are nutritious to livestock.

Others might justify the feat of setting commercial forests afire as revenge. This presumably might be the case with three timber companies that lost out in Chimanimani namely, The Wattle Company, Allied Timber and Border Timbers. Workers are suspected to be behind the gutting of more than 1 000ha of wood plantations.

If people take the Chimanimani arsonists as heroes, then something is amis with us. Considering arson as media for dialogue between grumbling workers and management on a labour impasse is none other than a mal-informed decision. They are better avenues of seeking dialogue.

If I may ask, when the plantations were chocking in smoke, did life start to improve for all the workers who were cheering for the arson? And did the forest fires complement any value to the employees’ working conditions? Moreover, did it add any significance to the Zimbabwean economy? Are we aware that the ruthlessness happening in the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe affects the country as a whole?

This madness is happening at a time the Government of Zimbabwe is working flat out to attract foreign direct investments. We are not sure if one or more foreign direct investors were keen on establishing a timber entity in the Eastern Highlands to undertake the timber business. With this madness going on, how can we convince such a potential foreign director investor that his/her assets, whether in Manicaland or elsewhere, will be safe in the long run?

The Provincial Forestry Manager for Manicaland, Mr Chauke Tom expressed deep concern for the destruction. Said Mr Tom: “Forests are a strategic resource. Timber plantations are only found in the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe.

What happens in Manicaland with regards to timber will affect the whole of the country. For one to build a house say in Binga or Lupane, the timber has to be acquired from Manicaland. The destruction or poor management of forests is a major blow to the economy of Zimbabwe.”

This is why, legally, the act of causing a fire is a punishable offence. Clause 15 (3) of Statutory Instrument 7 of 2007 Environmental Management (Environmental Impact Assessment and Ecosystems Protection) prohibits any person to deliberately cause a fire outside residential or commercial premises during the fire season (31 July – 31 October). According to Clause 18 (3) (c) of the same legislation, a person found of such may be fined not exceeding level fourteen per hectare or imprisoned for a period not exceeding one year or both the fine and imprisonment.

I don’t want to dwell much on the offence subject now but shall discuss it in future. Let me put much emphasis on why we should mitigate the problem. Offenders have a tendency of justifying their cases or giving mere excuses. Shouldn’t excuses be left to the irrational? Progressive people cannot hide behind tradition or labour disputes as reasons for setting fires. To say that people light a plantation because they are grumbling is simply mixing issues.

If there is a labour dispute, the work relations issue should be treated separately. There is no way a forest fire can settle an industrial impasse. And it is bad habit to bless a misconduct hiding behind labour issues. People should drive away from the negative attitude towards natural resources.

One reason why people should protect forests is that our lives and that of other species depend on the forests. Setting a forest on fire is like signing own death warranty. How can one get satisfaction in destroying the source of our oxygen? Right now we have been experiencing a heatwave. There is climatic change to worry about. Instead, some of us are busy worrying about torching forests.

It’s high time we should know that forests help regulate the weather pattern. Peasant farmers are crying about erratic rains. How can we expect to get normal rainfalls when we are cheering for the culprits who are dwindling our forests in the name of resolving a labour stand-off?

Shouldn’t we be asking ourselves if it is profitable to solve a labour dispute by creating other disasters? Before incinerating a forest, why cannot we think of the people who are directly employed by the timber industry and forestry? What’s of those are employed indirectly like those in construction industry? Is setting a forest in flames a sign of community development? What individual benefits does a person derive from setting the forest afire?

The velocity at which our forests are falling will have a negative bearing on our future regardless of our age. As elders, shouldn’t we be proud of our heritage? If our forefathers had destroyed the forests the same way we are having today, would we be proud of them leaving us a desert to dwell? So, what legacy are we trying to leave for our children? A legacy of havoc, ignorance and destruction?

If one has to ask those who are involved in setting the forests afire what permanent benefits they have acquired since they engaged themselves in the devastation of the forests, what honest answer will they give? A YES? I wonder. Then why put so much energy on something that yields no benefits at all? The other issue people should do is put into consideration the time which a hardwood tree takes to mature. What time does it take for a hardwood tree to reach full maturity? Most hardwoods take 60 to 100 years. And how much time does it take to destroy the same tree? With the modern mechanisation or forest fire, it takes only a few minutes. Should we take pride in becoming a destructive society?

Recently, a weekly newspaper from our Zimpapers stable, The Sunday Mail, carried out an article on traditional medical practitioners lamenting on the negative effects of forest fires on their healing trade. Ignorantly, we might claim that traditional medicine has lost its relevance and what matters most is modern treatment. Lest we forget that even pharmaceutical companies produce the modern clinical drugs from the forests. So who is fooling who? Isn’t it clear that the veld fire lunacy is the one that has no relevance?

With this madness, do we really have a future?
For something to be protected, it should be valuable. People protect livestock because they feel the animals belong to them. Why do people not feel the same with forests? Are the forests really valuable to any community member? The forthcoming article shall discuss the issue.