But because organisations like Forestry Commission, Friends of the Environment and Environment Africa have evidently been working tirelessly to try and reverse the damage; maybe all is not quite lost yet.
With the 2011/2012 tree planting season having clearly come to an end, I will endeavour to find out from those organisations that were most noticeable in attempts to restore the country’s lost forests through vigorous tree-planting campaigns how much their efforts have yielded.
It would also be important to find out, considering that people still continue to exhibit destructive traits, how these organisations plan to preserve the progress made.
A few months ago, we carried a story of the invasion of the Chiredzi Conservancy, a move that has not only put in grave danger the lives of the animals, but has now seen very little being left of the forests that previously covered the area.
More recent was the story this paper covered in the April 29-May 5 issue, entitled Zanu PF land invaders threaten scenic Vumba, in which the writer reported of how some settlers were being “accused of destroying the scenic Eastern Highlands by indiscriminately cutting down indigenous and exotic trees and wanton hunting of wild animals.”
It is the bringing down of trees for personal gain, exacerbating land degradation, that forms the subject of this instalment. As the situation stands, there has developed a major dependency on trees to cater for many people’s energy needs, no thanks to the now very erratic power supplies from the Zesa.
Tobacco farmers, most of who have admitted their operations are still too small-scale for them to afford the use of coal in curing their crop, have also been found to be major culprits in the destruction of trees.
But in spite of the gloomy picture painted above, there are people who are making an awesome effort to try to reverse the situation, albeit facing a lot of resistance.
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According to their records, the Forestry Commission managed to plant 9 175 345 trees against the 10 million target they had set for the May 1 2011 to April 12 2012 tree-planting season. Of the trees planted, 1 250 420 (or 13,6%) were fruit and ornamental trees, 258 309 (or 2,8%) were indigenous species while the remainder of 7 674 616 (or 83,6%) were Eucalyptus and other plantation type species. To date, the organisation has had many ongoing programmes that seek to raise awareness and educate people on the importance of trees and their proper management, to avoid desertification.
And then there is Friends of The Environment (Fote), a non-profit making organisation made up of corporate entities championing the re-greening of Zimbabwe through tree planting. They are targeting at planting 500 million trees across the country by 2025.
The programme was pioneered by the Nyaradzo Funeral Assurance Company in July 2010 when they started the “planting of a tree with each burial” initiative. To date, Fote has planted over 45 000 trees at different institutions, with 40 500 trees planted in the past six months.
It then boggles the mind that when some people are clearly working so hard to reverse the damage and make sure we do not have to deal with the trouble desertification would present, there are some elements among us that continue to destroy. For instance, it has become a norm for the country to struggle containing veldt fires each year, that have to date been responsible for a significant part of the destruction to our forests and creatures that live in them.
As for tobacco growing, I know it is a lucrative venture and contributes significantly to the country’s GDP, but it just cannot be allowed to prosper at the expense of our forests, as then, we would not be doing ourselves any favour. As Steady Kangata, EMA publicity officer once said, “Economy without ecology is useless…”
I hope that all the trees planted by different organisations and individuals will be given a chance to mature and help replenish our fast-disappearing forests. And I also hope the responsible authorities will rein in and put into place some stricter measures to punish anymore found on the wrong side of the law as far as attempts to preserve our forests is concerned.
Everyone should make it a point to learn what trees mean to us and what trying to live without them will imply.
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