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Rutendo Nyeve, Sunday News Reporter
ZIMBABWE’s national tree ambassador Mr Never Bonde has urged indigenous churches that worship in open spaces to plant trees as part of their strategies to conserve the environment ahead of their gatherings slated for the beginning of the year.
Mr Bonde who fellowships within the Apostolic Sect said their prayer gatherings usually attract huge crowds of more than 15 000 people while some of their prayer procedures require a lot of firewood which if not properly managed causes massive deforestation.
In 2016, the Government, through the then Minister of Environment, Water and Climate Cde Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri appointed Mr Bonde, a Cowdray Park resident then as the national tree planting ambassador in recognition of his role in fighting deforestation through planting indigenous trees.
He was tasked to lead an initiative to plant trees in schools and churches among other places.
In an interview with Sunday News on Wednesday, Mr Bonde encouraged open air churches not only to pray for a brighter future, but to also lead in deeds through environmentally friendly practices like planting trees.
“As we are celebrating the end of the year 2023 and coming into 2024, I am calling upon indigenous churches like the Apostolic Sects to be environmentally friendly. I have been a national tree ambassador since 2016 advocating for the conservation of this critical component of the ecosystem. I am also a member of the Apostolic Sect and I am sending a message specifically to my colleagues. We will witness a number of prayer gatherings with thousands of people as the year begins.
“When the spirit leads us to wherever it will have led us to convene, we use a lot of firewood to make what we call choto as well as zambara. These are part of our practices within our sect but they require a lot of firewood taking into consideration that the gatherings can have more than 15 000 people. As such I implore our fellow colleagues to take a step and ensure that we plant trees,” said Mr Bonde.
Mr Bonde said through his Environmental Conservation Organisation, Isandla Esidle, they will be lobbying Government to ensure policies are put in place that ensure environmentally friendly practices. “As we convene, we pray for our children as well as the future, but it is vanity if we continue to destroy the environment. If you look at an example, where a large herd of elephants passes, they leave a trail of destruction and that is what we do as well if we convene. This is why we are advocating for the planting of these trees.
“As an organisation, we are going to write to the Government requesting for it to facilitate laws that will ensure these Apostolic Sects plant trees wherever they convene. We need to understand what their policy says as a church about the conservation of the environment. Government is on record, First Lady Amai Auxillia Mnangagwa and our Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Judith Ncube have all encouraged us to plant trees,” said Mr Bonde. — @nyeve14
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