Gweru City Council yesterday planted over 200 trees at an event to mark the 2015 edition of National Tree Planting Day. The trees, mostly indigenous vanguria infausta (mudzvirimombe/umviyo) species, were donated to the local authority by the Forestry Commission in Midlands province.
By Simon Phiri
The event was held under the theme Trees and Forests for Soil Protection and Climate Change.
Forestry Commission Gweru district officer, Polite Foto told NewsDay on the sidelines of the commemorations that Midlands province has a target to plant at least 1,2 million trees this season.
He said more than 300 000 trees had already been planted in the province since last week in recognition of National Tree Planting Day celebrated on the first Saturday of December annually.
“Our target for this season is to plant at least 1,2 million trees in Midlands province and we have since planted over 300 000 across the province. The idea is just to promote the culture of planting trees and conservation of forests,” he said.
Deforestation has been on the rise in recent times due to an increase in informal economic activities spurred by high unemployment rates and closure of industries.
Over 330 000 hectares of forests are lost throughout the country annually.
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Speaking at the commemorations, Gweru district administrator, Langton Mupeta said deforestation levels in the country had reached alarming levels, and if unchecked, would cause desertification in the near future.
He blamed electricity load-shedding and reckless mining activities for the destruction of forests surrounding urban areas.
“The reason why we have a net loss of forests and trees is that we are removing more than we are replacing. The rate of deforestation currently far surpasses that of tree planting, hence more effort should be put towards this event if we are to avert the desertification that is looming,” Mupeta said.
“Some of the drivers of deforestation include land clearing for agricultural expansion and settlement, illegal mining activities, and firewood collection especially in urban areas where firewood has replaced the use of electricity due to load-shedding.”
Environmental Management Agency Midlands publicity officer, Timothy Nyoka said most trees were destroyed during fire seasons and through unsanctioned urban cultivation.
“Most of these trees we are planting to preserve our forests, if not protected, get destroyed during fire seasons. Also, urban agricultural activities are causing not only deforestation, but also siltation in our rivers,” he said.
