adminWHILE tobacco farming is one of Zimbabwe’s main economic pillars it has ravaged the country’s forests, contributing about 15 percent of the country’s total deforestation rate.
Zimbabwe loses about 330 000 hectares of natural forests annually due to deforestation.
Deforestation has led to loss of more than 21 percent of Zimbabwe’s forest cover over the past two decades.
Among some of the main causes of deforestation in the country as listed by the Forestry Commission are expansion for agricultural purposes and use of firewood as a source of energy for both rural and urban areas.
Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland West, Mashonaland East and Manicaland province, which are the hub of tobacco farming activity in the country, are the worst ravaged by deforestation.
Forestry Commission spokesperson Ms Violet Makoto told Sunday News last week that a number of programmes had been lined up for tobacco farmers in a bid to reduce the effects of their activities on the country’s forests.
Ms Makoto said part of the programmes included encouraging tobacco farmers to come up with their own woodlots where they grow fast maturing species of trees like the eucalyptus.
“We have a number of programmes that are lined up, particularly for the tobacco farming community. Of course for us tree planting remains an ongoing programme which we encourage every Zimbabwean to take part in,” she said.
Ms Makoto also said the Forestry Commission was working with the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in educating communities on how they could use forests as sources of livelihoods other than just looking at them as sources of firewood.
“Forests are a source of livelihoods and if our communities start to look at them as such it will help us preserve them. We are working with FAO on this project and we have recorded some progress.
“For example, in Matabeleland South there are a lot of Mopani trees and we then teach communities how to farm Mopani worms as a way of earning money. That way we know that the trees will not be cut wantonly as they will be of value to the local community,” she said.
Last year Zimbabwe set a target to plant 10 million trees during the tree planting season and surpassed the target by two million trees.
This year’s target has not yet been set, but Ms Makoto hinted that the target could be much higher than last year’s since Zimbabweans showed their interest in growing trees.
“Initially we had agreed not to change the target from 10 million but after last year’s performance we are tempted to set a much higher target,” she said.
Meanwhile, a Harare-based non-profit organisation, Environmental Solutions Africa (ESA), has embarked on an ambitious project to plant one million trees in each district countrywide.
The project dubbed “The One Million Trees per District” is being implemented under the theme “TREES: Today’s Reforestation Ensures Environmental Sustainability” and seeks to address multiple issues such as deforestation, climate change, land degradation, biodiversity loss, erosion, and desertification through various tree planting initiatives.
ESA’s executive director Mr Nkulumo Zinyengere told Sunday News that the project, which started in 2011 aimed to plant at least about five billion trees countrywide by 2015.
He said ESA was working with schools and traditional leaders to spearhead the project at community level.
“The aims are to encourage and capacitate all Zimbabweans to plant trees for environmental conservation and economic purposes, improve livelihoods through training related to trees production for environmental and economic purposes and impart knowledge to youths on the importance and benefits of environmental conservation and tree planting in particular,” he said.
Mr Zinyengere said ESA carried out the demonstration of the tree planting activities in Mudhindo area, Guruve district, as a pilot project with the full support of the local leadership and community.
He said over 200 000 seedlings were planted in this ward by villagers in the form of village woodlots and the organisation would upscale the programme to include other wards and districts in the country in subsequent seasons.
Mr Zinyengere said the type of trees planted include a variety of indigenous and exotic trees.
He said indigenous trees were planted for the purpose of reforestation while fast growing exotic trees like eucalyptus were grown for personal household purposes like fencing, housing and energy, among other uses.
“ESA assists local communities to produce tree seedlings. These tree seedlings are then distributed to communities for planting in community-owned woodlots, households and identified and authorised council land. Schools are also educated and capacitated to produce and plant trees at their schools and surrounding areas.
“ESA also realises that tree planting initiatives need to be complemented by sustainable energy options and livelihoods alternatives. ESA is therefore making efforts to partner with as many organisations as possible in order to have a holistic approach to this environmental challenge,” he said.
Online Reporter