By Richmore Tera.
Harare, Zimbabwe. (News Of The South) – WHILE trees are a source of life, it seems the message is going unheeded in most African communities which rely on firewood as a source of fuel for domestic purposes like cooking and lighting, while trees are also cut down for various other uses such as making fencing poles and furniture.
In Zimbabwe, awareness campaigns by environmental watchdogs and authorities like the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) – which is a statutory body responsible for the management and protection of the environment – as well as the Forestry Commission, which falls under the Ministry of Environment, Water and Climate Change Management, have yielded little results especially in the rural areas where the practice of tree-cutting is prevalent.
This year’s National Tree Planting Day commemorations which were held on the first Saturday of this month (December) came amid revelations and mounting fears that if the indiscriminate cutting down of trees continues unabated, most parts of the country will fast turn into a desert as a result of deforestation.
In similar vein, deforestation has also been cited as one of the major causes of greenhouse emissions resulting in global warming otherwise known as climate change.
According to Mr Duncan Chihwala, the Forestry Commission’s District Extension Officer for Harare Metropolitan Province, deforestation is one of the leading culprits in the destruction of the ozone layer, leading to health problems like skin cancer and blindness.
“The deforestation rate (in Zimbabwe) has exceeded 330 000 hectares per annum due to a number of factors. With this rate the country is fast turning into a desert causing global warming (climate change). This has impacted negatively on the ozone layer leading to the emission of more ultra-violet rays which cause skin cancers.
Mr Chihwala sounded the knell of deforestation in the following words: “If climate change continues at this rate, the intensity of light also leads to partial blindness among people. The little money that is there for developmental issues will be diverted towards treating and feeding people because of global warming and what this means is that we have to plant more trees than we cut. Our target this year is planting more than 500 million trees,” Mr Chihwala.
It is in this vein that health authorities, church leaders, local Government, City Fathers and various other stakeholders have put their hands together in the fight against deforestation by promoting the preservation of forests in a move to mitigate the effects of climate change.
Authorities at the only International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) certified hospital in Zimbabwe, Chitungwiza Central Hospital, say they cherish and value the role that trees play in the health of societies.
This was said by the hospital’s Public Relations Officer, Mrs Audrey Tasaranarwo, who said trees are a source of life, which are also known for their rich medicinal values. Mrs Tasaranarwo urged community members to plant more trees if they were to enjoy cleaner fresh air.
“Trees are life. When we breathe in we take in oxygen and when we breathe out we will be exhaling carbon dioxide. This means that when we cut down trees we will be limiting our supply of oxygen.
“On the health side, trees also have some medicinal properties since some of the drugs that are used in the hospitals, clinics and pharmacies are manufactured using extracts from some of these trees. They also provide shade from direct light from the sun thus avoiding health problems like skin cancer. So encourage people to plant more trees,” said Mrs Tasaranarwo.
She added that as a hospital they were proud to be associated with such a worthy cause.
“Since Chitungwiza Central Hospital is a major stakeholder in the community as a health service provider, we felt it imperative for us to take part in this worthy cause of planting trees in our area.
“We also need more trees to be planted at our institution in line with the mission that we started two years ago when the hospital hosted the National Tree Planting Day for Chitungwiza town,” she said.
Pastor Shepherd Matyora of Glad Tidings Church who were the hosts of this year’s National Tree Planting Day commemorations for Chitungwiza, quoted a verse from the Biblical book of Genesis in which God created a natural garden full of trees for man to live in bliss.
According to Pastor Watyora, man however erred from God’s plan through deforestation and other practices like pollution thus leading to people’s lives being cut short as a result of ozone depression.
“Ozone depression caused by the cutting down of trees has seen people’s lives being cut short and God is concerned with this because man is breaching on His plan of a garden of paradise for man to enjoy nature in bliss.
“We are happy that this year the church has taken an active role in spreading the message of the importance of planting trees. The church has a social obligation of teaching the community and maintaining the standards of conserving nature through tree-planting,” Pastor Watyora said.
The event saw Chitungwiza Mayor Cllr Mutoti, Town Clerk Cllr Hebert Chiroodza and District Administrator Mrs Chisango planting the pod mahogany tree commonly known in the indigenous Shona language as Mukamba tree.
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The indigenous tree, which was named as the Tree of the Year for 2016, was chosen for its various characteristics which include its high medicinal properties, commercial value when it comes to timber used for manufacturing furniture as well as its ornamental values when making artistic works.
People were urged to plant more trees of this nature to avoid its extinction and maintain its genes for posterity.
Chitungwiza Municipality, Forestry Commission, District Administrator’s office, NGOs and women’s empowerment groups, among others, attended the event which was held under the theme, “Agro Forestry for Climate Change, Resilience and Food Security.”
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