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Michael Magoronga, Midlands Correspondent
GOVERNMENT has placed wetland management at the core of its development agenda, putting in place governance tools to ensure judicious utilisation of the important ecological assets, Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister, Nqobizitha Ndlovu has said.
In a speech to commemorate World Wetlands Day (WWD), Minister Ndlovu said wetlands lie at the heart of sustainable development. In line with Government’s vision 2030 of becoming an upper middle-income economy, the country needs to fully harness the economic potential associated with wetlands conservation including improved biodiversity, tourism and other allied businesses.
He said the 2023 theme ‘It’s time for wetland restoration’, clearly amplifies the urgent need for restoration of wetlands.
Zimbabwe has a variety of wetlands that include flood plains, pans, swamps, vleis and artificial impoundments that occupy 34,96percent of the total area of the country which is equivalent to 13, 659, 579 hectares of the country, he said.
“Of these available wetlands, the vleis constitute the country’s natural infrastructure which is being threatened by unsustainable anthropogenic activities which include overgrazing, cultivation, infrastructural development coupled with climate change,” said Minister Ndlovu.
The Government developed a Wetland Masterplan, the National Wetlands Policy and the National Wetlands Management guideline in 2021 as a way of preserving the wetlands.
Wetlands restoration dovetails with the government’s NDS1 target of increasing areas of wetlands that are sustainably managed, added the Minister.
Online Reporter