Patrick Chitumba, Midlands Bureau Chief
MIDLANDS Province is losing over 10 000 hectares of woodlands every year while the entire country loses 330 000ha, the Forestry Commission of Zimbabwe has revealed.
The negative economic effect of deforestation is often ignored, but is great, especially in the long run as the loss of forests affects millions of the people, especially the poor in the rural areas.
Poached firewood for sale
Worldwide, over a billion people rely on forests for food, medicine, or fuel. For some people deforestation means lost income, lost subsistence and even a lost home.
Deforestation and woodland degradation are issues of great concern in Zimbabwe.
Debate on the issues has identified a number of causes, which include expansion of arable land, demand for wood fuel and construction poles, and urban expansion.
Forestry Commission of Zimbabwe Midlands provincial manager Mr Roderick Nyahwai said: “According to the latest map Midlands Province has 31,79 percent woodlands and 20,55 bushland; meaning we have 52,34 percent forest cover composed of woodlands and bushlands.
Gweru has 30,66 percent woodlands and 14,58 percent bushlands; meaning the total forest cover for Gweru is 30,66 percent plus 14,58 percent.
“The country is losing over 330 000 hectares of forest per year and Midlands province is losing forests at a rate of over 10 000 hectares per year due to deforestation.”
Mr Nyahwai said drivers of deforestation include electricity challenges.
“For example, the increased price for electricity is driving people to focus on firewood in all urban areas, especially high density.
Recently, there was an increase in the price of electricity and we, therefore, see an increase in firewood use.
Charcoal production is also a contributing factor in areas such as copper queen, Sebakwe and Zvishavane.
Their market is Harare and the rate of charcoal production is quite high,” he said.
Mr Nyahwai said illegal and uncontrolled settlements have destroyed areas such as Mapfungautsi and Chemagora forested farms in Gokwe South District.
He said the other factor is that people are allowed to occupy residential suburbs before services such as electricity are connected.
Poachers arrested for producing charcoal in Sebakwe, Kwekwe District
Obviously, Mr Nyahwai said, these people will focus on firewood as a source of energy for cooking and heat, especially during the winter season.
“There are farmers who were recently allocated land and these are opening land for cropping and have also contributed to deforestation.
Some of the farm owners realised that selling firewood to firewood dealers is earning them quick money, therefore they focus on firewood as their business, but we are controlling that through farm inspection as a regulation activity,” he said.
Mr Nyahwai said areas where most firewood is sold in the province are Gweru, Kwekwe, Zvishavane and Gokwe where the surrounding farms are targets
“We are appealing to all concerned citizens to confiscate firewood along the highway and in other places.
The targeted species are Igonde/Musasa, Umtshonkwe/Mutondo because these species produce good firewood,” he said.
Mr Nyahwai said mining is also contributing a lot to deforestation, especially informal miners who usually fail to follow regulations in line with environmental impact assessments.
Chrome mining that uses open cast mining, he said, is also another major culprit
“Tree cutting for timbering their mines, unnecessary vegetation clearing and burning of bushes for them to use gold detectors are some of the ways these miners are contributing to vegetation cover loss,” he said.
Mr Nyahwai said deforestation results in siltation of water bodies and affecting surface water as a resource — a development he said further affects agriculture sector, especially those using irrigation.
He said ground water recharge is also minimal due to deforestation because there is more runoff than infiltration of water during rains.
“This affects most of our boreholes.
Bags full of charcoal
If you look at the average depth of boreholes in places where there is high deforestation it’s usually very deep.
Forests are also a key evaporation base in the rainfall making process therefore deforestation is actually reducing the evaporation base for a country like Zimbabwe which is a landlocked country.
This also affects agriculture for those who rely on rain,” said Mr Nyahwai.
He said forests filter chemicals from agricultural fields before they are discharged into water bodies.
“If forests are removed at the rate we see today, all toxins are freely discharged into the river system and will cause a lot of health problems.
The health sector is also affected in the long run. We are losing high value indigenous timber species from poaching and unplanned settlements.
That’s a loss to the timber industry,” said Mr Nyahwai.
The commission, he said, is strengthening its regulation unit which will be patrolling on a daily basis across the province in order to reduce deforestation.
“We also do massive tree planting every year using fast growing exotic species to counter forest cover loss.
National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1)
Our target under the National Development Strategy (NDS1) is to have a forest cover increase of 5 to 10 percent depending on provinces.
We are doing awareness campaigns against deforestation every year and also working with communities, forming what are called Natural Resources Management teams.
These are responsible for correcting wrong doers as far as environment protection is concerned,” said Mr Nyahwai.
He said in mining areas focus is on reclaiming pits/dumps left by mining companies and artisanal gold miners.
“Three years back we reclaimed Ruchanyu Mine dumps in Shurugwi District and there is good progress.
We are working with Midlands State University doing research to find the best fast growing species to plant.
The Forest Amendment Act of 2021 which was recently put in place also introduced stiffer penalties for offenders.
We hope to see a reduction in forest offences soon,” said Mr Nyahwai.
Deforestation has led to a loss of more than 21 percent of Zimbabwe’s forest cover over the past two decades.
Forests and trees outside forests contribute to food security through provision of forest foods and incomes and protection of soils and water resources on which agriculture depends