adminFoundation-funded Zimunya Tree Seedling Nursery at Zimunya High School last Thursday, Environment and Natural Resources Management Minister Francis Nhema said Zimbabwe was losing 300 000 hectares of forests every year.
He said Old Mutual’s sponsorship of the Zimunya project demonstrated the beauty of Public Private Partnerships in addressing some of the challenges confronting Zimbabwe.
“Statistics indicate that Zimbabwe is currently losing about 300 000 hectares of its forests every year.
“This trend has been noted over the past five years. Simply put, we have lost 15 000 square kilometres of tree cover during the past five years,” said Minister Nhema.
Old Mutual Zimbabwe Foundation trustee Mr Donald Muthe said the diversified property and financial services group had settled on the Zimunya tree nursery project because 70 percent of Manicaland’s commercial interests lie in plantations.
“In all our endeavours, be they commercial or corporate social responsibility, we always emphasise on sustainable development.
“By investing in the environment we are basically investing in the future sustenance of the communities within which we operate,” said Mr Muthe, who is also the managing director of RM Insurance, as subsidiary of Old Mutual.
Minister Nhema said Old Mutual’s contribution towards combating environmental degradation in Zimunya deserved to be emulated by the rest of the business community.
“We have since come to the conclusion that we cannot win the war alone without the involvement of the private sector through Public Private Partnerships,” he said.
Online Reporter