adminthe previous year, which was quite historic in the sense that it was the first such a walkathon to be staged within the country’s boundaries. Last year’s walkathon turned out to be another resounding success; building its success on the experience gained during the inaugural event.
The 2011 walkathon attracted a record 200 walkers from across the board, an increase of over 100 percent from the previous year’s event.
Trees planted on that trot more than doubled in number compared to the 2010 walkathon. Their survival rate shot up to 87 percent, another record.
The inaugural walkathon was from Gweru to Harare, a distance of nearly 300 kilometres that was covered inside seven days. The 2010 journey took the walkers through three provinces namely the Midlands, which is where the walkathon started; Mashonaland West and Harare, being the final destination.
As the walkers journeyed on, they interacted with communities and passed on the message about the effects of indiscriminate cutting down of trees as well as highlighting the importance of conserving trees.
Throughout the walkathon, the walkers chanted “trees are life; miti Hupenyu”, a slogan informally adopted during the event.
A total of 4 500 trees were planted between Gweru and Harare before the walkers joined hundreds of people who had gathered at Chishawasha Primary School to commemorate the National Tree Planting Day (NTPD), officiated by President Robert Mugabe.
The 2011 edition of the walkathon was from Harare to Mutare, covering a distance of about 265 km in six days.
The Harare to Mutare Walkathon covered two provinces, namely Mashonaland East and Manicaland, planting more than 7 000 trees along the way at schools, colleges, prison farms, private farms and other sites identified by the Forestry Commission of Zimbabwe.
During the walkathon, walkers chanted, “A tree today, forests tomorrow; Muti nhasi, masango mangwana,” a slogan that was also adopted informally during the walkathon. The event was concluded when the walkers again joined the nation in tree planting at St. Mathias Tsonzo in Watsomba. With these past achievements, FOTE are now more embolden in their mission.
The journey is on again this year.
This year, the 2012 edition, FOTE will walk from Harare to Mutoko — a distance of 140km to be covered inside three days. To make the journey enjoyable, it has been broken down into three stopover points as follows:
Harare — Juru Growth point 46,6 km — November 28
Juru ( Bhora) — Zhombwe Primary School 46 km — November 29
Zhombwe Primary School – Mutoko Centre 47 km — November 30
With the wealth of experience gained from the past two excursions, FOTE can only promise a fun-filled event for both our corporate sponsors, partners and walkers. It is definitely going to be bigger and better than the previous walkathons.
We are expecting a core group of 200 strong participants for the entire journey. Of course, the numbers will swell in between stopovers as Zimbabweans from all walks of life join in to cheer up this core group of participants and help them get the message across.
Never before has the environmental cause been so topical: The event will bring together walkers from all walks of life — from the top executive; the elderly and the youths. The aim has remained the same: We want to raise awareness about the environment while at the same time promoting tree planting.
It should be appreciated by everyone that before one cuts a tree they should first think about replacing the same. This year, we are hoping to plant even more trees at the designated stopovers despite the fact that the points are fewer than in the previous years.
The walkathon will be capped by the groundbreaking official opening of one of FOTE’s nurseries established with the support of OK Zimbabwe Limited at Katsukunya Secondary School. In choosing Mutoko as our destination this year, FOTE have been touched by the extent of deforestation and land degradation in the area caused by granite miners and tobacco farmers.
FOTE are happy that the corporate world has responded and continues to respond positively to this worthy cause. The level of support has almost double from the numbers we had last year.
One might ask: Why are we foregoing the comforts of our homes between November 28 to December 1, 2012 to embark on this torturous exercise? The answer lies in our communities for everyone to see: Just look around and see what has become of our forests and trees that used to beautify our suburbs/communities, parks and roadsides.
Our situation as a country is desperate and we must all do something about it.
Online Reporter