Manicaland loses 45 000ha to deforestation

02 Dec, 2016 - 00:12 0 Views
Manicaland loses  45 000ha to deforestation Mukamba Tree is the 2016 tree of the year

The ManicaPost

Samuel Kadungure: Farming Reporter

MANICALAND is annually losing at least 45 000 hectares of forests through deforestation, with experts decrying tobacco curing, agriculture land expansion, firewood selling and charcoal making as its key drivers.Responding to e-mailed questions ahead of the provincial tree planting set for tomorrow (Saturday) at Zurura Secondary School in Makoni, Provincial Forest Extension Manager for Manicaland, Mr Pillip Tom, said most areas in tobacco growing districts of Makoni, Mutare and Mutasa now lack vegetation cover.

Mr Tom said in a bid to reverse the damage, at least 600 000 trees species have been planted outside forests.

Mr Tom said the Forestry Commission and other partners had embarked on a forest restoration programme to rehabilitate and restore degraded areas following wanton razing of trees which has left many parts of Manicaland without vegetation and with no forage for livestock to the extent that thousands of cattle, goats and donkeys died.

At least three million trees are targeted by the end of the tree planting season —December 2016 up to the end of the season in April — to keep pace with the rate of deforestation.

The first Saturday of December each year is National Tree Planting Day.

The day was set aside in 1980 to launch the tree planting season — having been declared by President Mugabe and since then the day has become an important part of Zimbabwe’s environmental calendar to motivate the nation to plant and conserve trees; enlighten the nation on the importance of forest and woodland resources and enhance household food security.

In Zimbabwe, deforestation remains the largest threat to the country’s forests. The Forestry Commission estimates that over 330 000ha of forests are lost each year due to deforestation, mainly due to the use of wood fuel even in urban areas as a result of power cuts and in rural areas where tobacco farmers cut trees for curing purposes.

Experts predict that Zimbabwe will be a desert in the next 25 years if the indiscriminate cutting of trees goes unabated.

“We are losing plus or minus 45000 hectares annually through deforestation and the indiscriminate cutting down of trees is more pronounced in both new and old resettlements especially in the tobacco growing districts of Makoni, Mutare and parts of Mutasa district,” said Mr Tom.

Mr Tom said deforestation had fuelled climate change shocks because trees are a sink for carbon dioxide gases which cause global warming.

“The destruction of trees exposes the province to the effects of climate change and this is why the local rainfall patterns have changed significantly,” he added.

Over the past seasons Manicaland experienced inconstantly diminishing rains which were often followed by long arid spell which had a toll effect on the planted crop. As a result farmers suffered irreparable losses as the grain crops succumbed to harsh arid conditions before reaching maturity.

Resources poor farmers in natural regions three, four and five of the province suffered the worst as lack of rain and scorching heat irreversibly damaged food crops and forced some to leave their fields untilled.

“We recommend massive tree planting strategies and also the use of alternative sources of energy to cure tobacco. Our successes rates in tree planting are around 60 to 70 percent of the planted trees survive annually when there are good rains.

“Tree planting efforts are being hampered by high prevalence of incidences of veld fires, droughts and destruction of seedlings by domestic animals due to lack of protection for planted trees,” said Mr Tom.

Climate change and food insecurity are directly linked and agro-forestry is key to the climate change adaptation strategy. Manicaland is endowed with prime environmental conditions for fruit growing which can minimise food insecurity.

“If we can all stand up and do massive tree planting, while we also encourage natural regeneration, the effects of deforestation can be effectively reduced.

“Our biggest challenge is the effects of climate change that is also causing high mortality rates for planted seedlings due to excessive heat and high incidences of veld fires which prevents regeneration,” he said.

The 2016 theme is: Agroforestry for Climate Change Resilience and Food Security. The tree of the year is the Afzellia quanzensis (pod mahogany/mukamba) tree. Afzelia species are used primarily for wood and also have medicinal properties. The wood is often used as the surface material for outdoor velodromes while the seeds and are used as medicine.

Over the years Forestry Commission has been promoting planting of eucalyptus wood lots in many parts of the country despite facing challenges of vandalism, negative publicity about eucalyptus water uptake, perennial droughts, browsing by animals, pests and diseases.

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