It is increasingly being viewed as crucial the world over for governments to “green” their operations.
Environment with Chipo Musara
A government that operates in a manner that shows care for Mother Nature is proof of the kind of governance that cares not only when it’s in power, but also for the wellbeing of generations to come.
Zimbabwe is at the moment undergoing a transitional period following the just-ended July 31 elections, in which President Robert Mugabe and his party Zanu PF emerged winners.
The majority of Zimbabweans now wait with bated breath to see what the new government can deliver. With so many areas in dire need of immediate attention, the new government clearly has its work cut out for it.
As far as environmental issues are concerned, the new government faces a mammoth task as there are many areas that need serious attention.
Maybe, the good thing is that the problem areas have since been identified and have received mention enough times.
If President Mugabe and his new government care about portraying to the world an environment-friendly image, they cannot afford to sideline environmental matters. Challenges bedeviling the country’s environment will need to be tackled, and soon.
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Zanu PF’s 2013 election manifesto emphasised on the policy of indigenisation and empowerment which they say would “empower indigenous entities to hold 100% of equity to start up or take over strategic enterprises across the economy, especially in key sectors such as mining, tourism and agriculture”.
As it happens, mining, tourism and agriculture are the three sectors that have proved to be the main source of headaches for environmentalists in the country.
While the mining sector is without doubt the backbone of the country’s economy at the moment, the manner in which the mining ventures are generally being carried out spell environmental disaster!
In some instances, the negative impact of mining has been so far-reaching as to beg the question: is the country’s mineral wealth really a blessing or is it in fact a curse?
A case worth noting is that of the pollution of the Save River from chemicals that include zinc and iron believed to have been discharged in the river by some diamond mining companies in the Marange area.
While the majority of the people in the area claim they do not have much to show for their area’s mineral wealth, pollution of their main source of water is what they have to show for it.
According to a study carried out by the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) on behalf of the Zimbabwe Environmental Lawyers Association (Zela) in July of 2012, people who live along the river and depend on it for water supply were at risk of contracting cancer and other diseases because of the dangerous chemicals dumped by the mining companies into the river.
Furthermore, both legal and illegal mining ventures have been blamed for the destruction of the country’s landscape. As minerals continue to be discovered throughout the country, open pits have become a common sight, posing great danger to both people and their livestock.
There is need for the new government to prioritise land rehabilitation programmes that ensure miners rehabilitate the land to its previous state, or better, once they are done extracting the minerals. That will however only happen if miners are made to understand it is as a matter of fact, a legal requirement.
Tourism has always had a place in Zimbabwe, and with the right policies in place, it has the potential to have an even bigger role to play in reviving the country’s economy. There are just a number of problems facing the sector that need to be addressed.
A rich biodiversity plays a major part in making a place appealing enough to make tourists want to pay their money to visit it.
The fact that Zimbabwe has over the past few years been in biodiversity destruction mode, does not exactly help.
The country is each day losing much of its flora and fauna and this needs to be addressed. For instance, the drastic loss of the country’s wildlife through poaching, a resource that most tourists are willing to pay large amounts of money to come and see, only serves to drag the tourism sector down.
In the meantime, while getting land has been a source of emancipation for many indigenous people, unless that land is productively utilised, the indigenisation efforts will surely come to naught.
It is true that most farmers are not employing farming practices that are sustainable enough to see that the land will still be suitable for farming in the future. The new government needs to carry out audits and make sure that farmers operate in a manner that is sustainable and friendly to the environment.
If the new government can look into these areas and work towards a sustainable environment, it would have done well and future generations will be thankful for it.
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