… 36 percent of Zimbabwean land already degraded
Beverly Bizeki
Zimbabwe’s ability to achieve land degradation neutrality by 2030 in line with Sustainable Development Goal 15 looks like a far-fetched dream with 36 percent of the country’s land already considered degraded and in need of emergency rehabilitation.
With major drivers of land degradation in the country being illegal mining, stream bank cultivation, gulley erosion, destruction of wetlands, invasive alien species and encroachment of infrastructure on ecologically sensitive areas driven by poverty and climate change, all these tend to push the goal further away.
Speaking during an inception workshop of the Global Environment Facility 7 (GEF 7) programme held at Great Zimbabwe Hotel recently Environment Management Authority (EMA) Masvingo Provincial Manager Milton Muusha said illegal mining is a major driver of land degradation according to a report on the status of land degradation in the Save Runde catchments.
“According to assessments by EMA, one of the biggest drivers of land degradation in the Midlands is chrome mining causing a total loss of 5 036 hectares (ha) while illegal gold mining accounts for 6 128 ha.
“89 969 ha were destroyed by veld fires in Midlands while 45 560 ha of land have been destroyed in Masvingo province because of fire,” said Muusha.
Effects of climate change are already manifesting with stream bank cultivation rampant in Masvingo and Midlands provinces.
“About 131.6km of land is under stream bank cultivation in Masvingo whilst 830.59 km of land along rivers is under stream bank cultivation in the Midlands province.
“716 ha of land is said to be covered under wetlands with 308.5 ha severely degraded and about 38 ha still pristine. In the Midlands, 9 569 ha is said to be covered by wetlands of which 45 percent is reported to be severely degraded.
“Invasive alien species are also amongst the major drivers of land degradation with 2 473 ha of land affected in Masvingo while 1 619 ha are affected in the Midlands province,” he added.
It is against this backdrop that Zimbabwe together with the rest of the world is expected to achieve land degradation neutrality by 2030 in line with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 15 (protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reserve land degradation and halt biodiversity loss).
Ministry of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Permanent Secretary Ambassador Raphael Tayerera Faranisi said sustainable land and forest management have been placed as priority strategies to reverse, reduce and avoid accelerated land degradation.
“In this regard, the sustainable land and forest management have been placed as priority strategies to reverse, reduce and avoid accelerated land degradation. Zimbabwe has adopted this strategy as reflected in the National Development Strategy (NDS 1) thrust under the environment protection and management sector.
“In order to address these environmental challenges and empower our people, the government of Zimbabwe with funding from the Global Environment Facility and the Food and Agricultural Organization to develop a multi-sector approach,” said Faranisi.
The programme aims at a cross sector approach supporting the mainstreaming of sustainable forest and land management to enhance ecosystem resilience for improved livelihoods in the Save and Runde Catchments of Zimbabwe.
Some submissions made at the workshop suggested the need for representation of the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development at district level to control illegal mining in districts in the fight against land degradation.
“The greater part of Mashava has most of the land meant for resettlement is currently being overtaken by mining activities and the greater part of Mushandike irrigation area is also now under mining hence the need to rope in the ministry of mining in the taskforce on the GEF 7 programme.
“At district level the ministry of mining is not represented so a lot of developments that are happening cannot be controlled by local authorities posing a great challenge, there is need to include the ministry in the stirring committee so that the issue can be addressed at district level,” said a participant.
11 296.62 ha of land in Midlands province is under informal mining with Shurugwi alone having about 3 464 ha, hence the need for the project to cover all mining districts as part of the efforts to achieve land restoration.
The project intended to run for three years is part of a global Sustainable Forest Management Impact Programme on Dryland Sustainable Landscapes in eleven countries which is being led by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO).
