Wattle loses out to veldfires

hectares of pine, wattle and eucalyptus trees at its plantations in the Eastern Highlands last year.
Liaison officer Maxwell Guhudzai said the company had since finished replanting trees in the burnt plantations.
“We started replanting during the rainy season and were targeting to recover all the plantations that were destroyed,” he said.
Mr Guhudzai said the plantations lost were worth US$54 000 while the other US$36 000 was for costs incurred fighting the fires.
He said replanting of pine and wattle trees was completed in April while eucalyptus would not be replaced since it is resistant to fire.
“We were lucky that young plantations that were four years and below were the ones that were destroyed hence the value was low,” he said.
Mr Guhudzai said every year the Wattle Company sets aside over US$80 000 for fire fighting duties and campaigns to raise awareness on the dangers of starting fires, a situation that greatly increases operational costs and affects profitability.
He said the company was working together with Forestry Commission, Agritex and Environmental Emergency Agency in encouraging and promoting the protection of the environment.
“We are busy holding educational meetings and we hope that in this year’s fire season that starts in June there will be a decline in veld fires,” he said.
Based in the Eastern Districts of Zimbabwe, the Wattle Company comprises three divisions and four primary products namely pine sawn timber, wattle extract which is used in the tanning industry, wattle timber used for charcoal production and eucalyptus poles. – New Ziana.