adminMercy Ngwebvu
THE Environmental Management Agency has urged Zimbabweans to practise sustainable agricultural practices in their respective communities as a way of conserving natural resources.Speaking during a recent media tour of the Save River basin and the Chirinda Mountains in Chipinge, EMA spokesperson Mr Steady Kangata emphasised the need for Zimbabweans to protect jealously the natural resources the country is endowed with.
Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life and it can refer to genetic variation, species variation, or ecosystem variation within an area or planet.
Terrestrial biodiversity tends to be highest near the Equator, which seems to be the result of the warm climate and high primary productivity. Marine biodiversity on the other hand tends to be highest along sea coasts where the sea surface temperature is highest and in mid-latitudinal bands in all oceans.
Biodiversity generally tends to cluster in hotspots, and has been increasing through time. The world’s biodiversity hotspot starts in Yemen and ends up in Chimanimani.
A biodiversity hotspot is a region with a high level of endemic species that is under threat from humans. While the hotspots are spread all over the world, the majority are forest areas and most are located in the tropics.
The Chirinda Mountain in Chipinge is part of the afro-mountain diversity hotspots and its key species are the Chirinda appallis (a small bird) and the Chirinda toad, which are only found in this part of the whole world.
Speaking during the tour, the biodiversity co-ordinator for EMA, Dr Chipangura Chirara, described the Chirinda area, which stretches for an approximate 940 hectares as very rich in terms of biodiversity adding that it is of utmost importance that the area is protected.
Said Dr Chirara:“The Eastern Highlands is very rich inasfar as biodiversity is concerned. This area boasts a diverse range of medicinal plants and our traditional knowledge has to be protected. Zimbabwe is rich in natural resources and as Zimbabweans we need to be proud of our natural wealth which cannot be bought by the largest amount of money.”
The period since the emergence of humans has displayed an ongoing biodiversity reduction and an accompanying loss of genetic diversity.
This biodiversity reduction is caused primarily by human impacts, particularly habitat destruction. Conversely, biodiversity impacts human health in a number of ways, both positively and negatively.
Deforestation and increased environmentally unfriendly practices in Zimbabwe remain a significant cause of concern because these practices usually further threats to biodiversity.
Besides being a threat to biodiversity, environmentally unfriendly practices result in habitat destruction through overconsumption, overpopulation, land use change, pollution and global warming or climate change.
Habitat size and numbers of species are systematically related. Physically larger species and those living at lower latitudes or in forests or oceans are more sensitive to reduction in habitat area.
Presently in Zimbabwe, the most threatened ecosystems are found in fresh water. Co-extinctions are a form of habitat destruction and it occurs when the extinction or decline in one accompanies the other, such as in plants and beetles.
“Our aquatic ecosystems are facing serious threats because most of our rivers’ carrying capacities are decreasing at an alarming rate, take for instance the Save river.
“Most of the rivers are now dominated by catfish and this is not a good sign because catfish is an invasive species and instead of having various species in our rivers, we end up with only one,” said Dr Chirara.
The term invasive species is applied to species that breach the natural barriers that would normally keep them constrained. Without barriers, such species occupy a new territory, often supplanting native species by occupying their niches, or by using resources that would normally sustain native species.
Species are increasingly being moved by humans, sometimes on purpose and accidentally. In some cases the invaders are causing drastic changes and damage to their new habitats.
At present, several countries have already imported so many exotic species, particularly agricultural and ornamental plants that their own indigenous fauna and flora end up being outnumbered.
Online Reporter