THE role and significance of wetlands has never been clearly understood by the common person. That is why people always approach or handle them with the carelessness and destruction that they don’t deserve.
It is not an issue of people being so irresponsible and eco-freaky but the truth is that, they lack adequate knowledge about wetlands and policymakers have not bothered to go an extra mile to explain the significance of these organic carbon stocks. They just react when these wetlands are being trampled upon and sadly it ends there. It is important that people should know why they are not supposed to cultivate or build on wetlands.
Although wetlands are in many types and sizes, depending on the country or region, the most common type in Zimbabwe is the dambos popularly known as mapani. According to Mharapara (1995), a wetland is that type of land which is subject to permanent or temporary water-logging, resulting in land use that supports aquatic or semi-aquatic plant life cycles permanently or temporarily in its natural state. However, my discussion is centred on the climate change or a global warming point of view. Research has it that, wetlands are the most natural resources on earth. They are said to be the sources of cultural, economic and biological diversity.
In ecological terms, wetlands store carbon, they provide potential carbon sinks from atmospheric carbon but if not managed properly, they could become sources of greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as carbon dioxide and methane. So, what does this statement mean for a layperson, who in this regard lacks adequate knowledge of climate change discourse? What has the layperson or an ordinary farmer has to do with carbon dioxide or methane, let alone the term greenhouse gases. These are the issues that, our policy makers should labour to hammer into the minds of many. But they are as ignorant as the intended recipients’ of this crucial information themselves.
These laypersons are important stakeholders in the environmental discourse and they need to know why large amounts of carbon should be locked underground. They also need to, why their cultivation or deforestation activities unlock large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere. In Zimbabwe, a lot of people have gone to settle or farm on especially the dambos because unlike the flood plains, they are fertile and wet. They are not even aware of the amount of carbon dioxide and methane, which are main ingredients global warming, they are releasing into the atmosphere. These people also like to cultivate on small water-logged patches of land called matoro in Shona because they are wet thereby supporting growth throughout the year. The authorities have been largely silent and if anybody dares to go the rural areas to tell the people to stop cultivating on matoro without the authorities having said so, guess what would happen to them. They would be very lucky to come back with both set of their ears intact.
Most towns and cities in Zimbabwe have been built mainly near the dambos and the city councils and environmentalists have not given adequate explanations on why there should not be any agricultural activities on these wetlands. Urban agriculture on wetlands continue to thrive without people knowing that ecosystem degradation and deforestation are, after fossil fuel combustion, the largest cause of carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere. To prevent the large emissions that result from wetland loss, programme such as REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation) have been proposed. Indirectly these are incentives aimed at encouraging people to stop invading the wetlands and start engaging in the establishment of carbon sinks. Carbon sinks are important features of agro-forestry and forest farming which can improve the livelihoods of the local people. The creation of carbon stocks and sequestration values in wetlands can provide incentives like reforestation and conservation projects of these reserves throughout the wetlands ecosystems.
Training is required for academics, policymakers and other stakeholders on issues related to climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies in wetland areas. Government should also be clear on its handling of issues to do with wetland farming or destruction and it should significantly “walk the talk.” No matter how much money some projects would bring to the country, the responsible authorities need to consider environmental repercussions first before allowing these mega projects to take off. Urban centres are already reeling from effects of air pollution, water pollution from industrial chemicals and to complicate that with wetland degradation would actually contribute to a lot of health complications, especially for unsuspecting individuals.
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It is the duty of responsible authorities to let people have enough knowledge of the discourse of climate change and conservation because these issues have come to stay and we can only wish them away at our own peril. Climate change is has become the number one enemy that we should not continue to massage upon. They should know that, it is this capacity of carbon dioxide that is even drawing the attention of the international community to wetlands and Zimbabwe is not an exception. It is also significant that, all types of wetlands deserve more credit they currently receive as carbon sequestration systems in global carbon budgets. Wetland restoration programmes need to be introduced and it’s never too late in this regard. Introducing plant life to decimated wetland areas would be significant steps towards normalcy as plants in wetlands can be a major component in carbon dioxide storage. They absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through a simple process of photosynthesis. The stagnant water in other forms of wetlands help to reduce the amount of respiration of that carbon dioxide back into the air. While widespread wetland destruction could unleash the mother of all carbon catastrophes, scientists are discovering that restoration of these vulnerable ecosystems could provide a valuable impetus to climate change by creating a world-wide network of carbon sinks. Let us reclaim these wetlands and turn them into wealth-lands rather than waste lands.
Finally, phrases like carbon sinks, carbon stocks, carbon budgets and carbon sequestration are not there to scare potential stakeholders, but seek to empower them.
Peter Makwanya is a climate change communicator. He writes in his own capacity and can be contacted on: [email protected]
