BY CHIPO MASARA
Located in climatic region five, an area not suitable for agriculture, one would wonder why the “settlers” would even dream of invading the Chiredzi River Conservancy. 

Whatever their reasons for this conduct, it clearly has nothing to do with farming. According to the ZCTF, during the 1991/92 drought, a number of juvenile elephants were captured in Gonarezhou National Park and moved to the Chiredzi River Conservancy (CRC) in a bid to save them from starvation.

The elephants flourished in their new home and their population was now estimated at around 70. Unfortunately, following the mostly misdirected “indigenisation” fever that now permeates the country, the area has been invaded.

There are reports of an influx of invaders who have since taken over the conservancy. Since the area that had been set aside for them has been invaded, the elephants have to pass through human populated areas to reach the watering holes and dams.

We all know that this is not the best scenario. One elephant is reported to be having a snare embedded in its flesh while about two months ago, two young elephants were allegedly wounded.

It would appear that poaching is definitely on the invaders’ agenda, adding to the country’s soaring wildlife depletion problem.  There are also fears that although the elephants in the conservancy were half-tamed, they might soon be left with no choice but to fight back if the onslaught by the invaders continues.

Although it is impossible to tell exactly how much of wildlife Zimbabwe still has as wildlife audits have not been carried out in a long time, it is suspected the numbers have dwindled significantly.

This is something that has mostly been credited to the highly controversial fast-track land reform programme that started in 2000. The so-called farmers have been accused of turning away from farming, which should be their core business, and turning to activities that have for years been causing unprecedented degradation to the environment, among them poaching and  the rampant cutting down  of trees.

The invaders at CRC are reported to be clearing the area of trees with reports of truckloads being seen leaving the conservancy headed for Masvingo and other urban centres.

Zimbabwe is reported to have so far lost 42 million hectares to deforestation. ZCTF chairman, Johnny Rodrigues described the destruction currently taking place at the conservancy as “so pointless and unnecessary.”

He argued that “if the settlers were able to grow crops in the area to avert hunger, one would understand, but that is not the case. “No matter how many animals they kill, they are never going to be able to grow crops in the area, which is too hot and dry to support this.”

Rodrigues appealed to the authorities to “please move the settlers to a more arable area where their crops will flourish and the elephants can continue to live in a territory they have always enjoyed.”

When he was approached for assistance and asked if the elephants could be relocated to a safer place, the Minister of Environment and Resources Management Francis Nhema reportedly insisted that the elephants must remain at CRC.

However, the minister is said to have clearly stated that the invaders were there illegally, which would leave anyone wondering why then there has been no effort to get them off the conservancy.

The “settlers” in Zimbabwe have since destroyed the places they were initially allocated under the land reform programme, mostly through burning and overgrazing.

Maybe the most unfortunate part about these ongoing invasions is that once they have destroyed virtually everything, the invaders abandon what would by then be a pretty much useless area and move on to destroy another.

It then makes one shudder to think of the kind of environment we are bound to have in, say two years’ time, if the current behaviour is allowed to go on unabated.

If the future generations are to have anything at all to inherit, it is crucial that the responsible authorities immediately rein in the criminal elements and make use of the CRC to show that we do after all genuinely care about the environment.