By Beatific Gumbwanda
CHIREDZI – More than a year ago, a Chiredzi duo was sentenced to a collective 18 years in
prison for possessing pangolin scales. Yet more than a dozen others convicted of unlawful
possession of forest produce have since completed sentences of about six months, raising a
pressing question: are trees not endangered species?
Globally, more than one in three of the world’s tree species are threatened with extinction,
according to the first Global Tree Assessment led by Botanic Gardens Conservation International
and the IUCN Species Survival Commission Global Tree Specialist Group.
The assessment found that 16,425 of the 47,282 tree species assessed are threatened, with trees
making up over 25% of all threatened species on the IUCN Red List – twice the number of all
threatened birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians combined.
In Chiredzi, the hot, drought-prone Lowveld district, the stakes are immediate. Tree cover shades
the soil, slows evaporation, anchors the ground against erosion and moderates local
temperatures. In a region where farmers already contend with erratic rainfall and long dry spells,
every hectare of woodland lost removes one of the few natural buffers households have against a
changing climate.
Chiredzi Rural District Council chairperson Aspect Mashingaidze recently told a full council
meeting that deforestation was not being treated with the seriousness it deserved, unlike wildlife
offences.
“Deforestation isn’t being taken seriously like what they do to wildlife. A person is arrested for it,
given community service and later proceeds with whatever he wanted to do with the trees he was
arrested for, due to the lenient judgements they are getting,” said Mashingaidze.
The mopane woodlands, which host the mopane worm, a valued source of food and income for
many households, are under growing threat. Residents and local leaders say mopane trees are
being indiscriminately cut down for firewood and charcoal, with logs reportedly being exported
to China and charcoal trucked to Harare and Bulawayo, where it sells for US$15 per 50
kilograms. Perpetrators are said to pass through roadblocks unchecked and, when arrested, face
lenient sentences.
In Chiredzi South, conservation is still being taken seriously, with traditional leaders acting as
custodians. Chief Gezani said traditional leaders play a pivotal role in tree conservation, and
mopane trees are still flourishing there.
“No one is allowed to chop down trees unnecessarily. One should seek permission from village
heads, clearly outlining the purpose, for example for roofing or construction of kraals, and we
don’t allow those who cut down trees for sale,” said Chief Gezani.
Tree conservation is guided by law in Zimbabwe, but offenders who break it are often handed
light sentences. The Forest Act (Chapter 19:05) governs state forests, while the Communal Land
Forest Produce Act (Chapter 19:04) applies to communal lands. Both punish offenders with a
fine on the standard scale and a term of imprisonment, but neither prescribes a minimum
sentence for any timber offence, leaving the decision entirely to the discretion of the court.
Statutory Instrument 116 of 2012, the Forest (Control of Firewood, Timber and Forest Produce)
Regulations, supplements the Forest Act. It requires licences to trade in firewood or timber and a
permit to export forest produce. Critics say this system allows well-connected people to strip
forests while the communities that depend on them gain nothing in return.
Wildlife offences are treated very differently. Under the Parks and Wildlife Act (Chapter 20:14),
offences involving specially protected animals attract a mandatory minimum sentence of nine
years’ imprisonment, whereas timber offences carry a maximum of two years, and most attract
six months.
Information and Communication Manager at the Forestry Commission, Violet Makoto, said
severity is assessed according to the governing statute. She said the Forest Act does not currently
carry mandatory minimums for illegal tree cutting, and most offences attract a fine or a short
term of imprisonment.
“The Act was most recently amended through the Forest Amendment Act, 2021, which
introduced stiffer penalties, including for veld fire offences. We continue to engage policymakers
on whether penalties for illegal harvesting and trade in forest produce are a sufficient deterrent,
and we support further review to align them with the environmental and economic damage
caused,” said Makoto.
The record bears out the concern. Of eight cases of unlawful possession of forest produce
involving 15 offenders this year, only one attracted a 12-month prison term, with three months
suspended. The other cases drew six-month sentences wholly suspended for five years.
Trees are the backbone of ecosystems. They filter air pollution, cool urban areas, improve soil
health and shield communities from extreme weather. They are also one of the planet’s most
important defences against climate change, with forests absorbing roughly a quarter of the
carbon dioxide released by human activity each year. When a tree is felled and burned, the
carbon it spent decades storing returns to the atmosphere. Deforestation therefore does double
damage: it removes a natural carbon sink and becomes a source of emissions at the same time.
As Zimbabwe works to cut emissions and protect its natural capital, the question the Lowveld is
asking is a fair one: if a tree that stores carbon, shades a village and feeds a household is worth
so little in court, who is paying for the cost of its loss?
