Seyuba lauds Finnish support to Forestry Dept
By Vincent Chilikima in Solwezi
Thu 03 Oct. 2013, 14:01 CAT
NORTH Western Province permanent secretary Augustine Seyuba has applauded Finland's cooperation and support in the management of forests and other natural resources. Seyuba said this when a project appraisal team paid a courtesy call on him.
He disclosed that Finland was providing 4.5 million Euros to the decentralised forest and other natural resources management programme in North Western and Muchinga provinces.
And project appraisal team leader senior consultant Henk Remme said the introduction phase of the programme would operate in Mwinilunga and Kasempa districts of North Western Province, and Nakonde and Chinsali districts of Muchinga Province, adding that the project was scheduled to start in 2014 and would initially run for three years to establish a solid platform and enabling conditions for full-scale programme implementation to last 12 years.
Meanwhile, Seyuba said the province was excited because the project was aimed at stopping deforestation, forest degradation, loss of biodiversity and reduction of carbon emissions, describing such conditions as negatively contributing to global warming and climate change.
He said the protection of land and water resources was very important for sustaining the agricultural sector, adding that the decentralised nature of the programme would assist in strengthening local rights by creating awareness among traditional leaders and their communities on their rights and responsibilities to ensure sustainable utilisation of natural resources.
Seyuba added that the project was necessary because it would reduce poverty and inequality through increasing rural incomes, enhancing food security and generating new employment opportunities for the rural poor.
He explained that the planned interventions should strengthen local government and support devolvement of many key natural resource management functions to the local levels to empower rural communities in the sustainable management of forests and other natural resources.
"The primary beneficiaries should be individuals and groups in local forests and other natural resources-dependent communities, including households and other vulnerable groups living in extreme poverty as well as community-based organisations in targeted districts," he said.
Seyuba also said the programme's success could be enhanced by integrating its implementation through establishing a team of key stakeholders from various institutions, among them the royal establishments, ministries of agriculture, local government, community development, the media and NGOs.
Labels: AUGUSTINE SEYUBA, FINLAND, FORESTRY, TREES
Read more...
KK asks diplomats to inform their govts about the good things Sata is doing
By Allan Mulenga
Sat 05 Jan. 2013, 15:00 CAT
DR Kenneth Kaunda has asked diplomats accredited to Zambia to inform their governments about the good things President Michael Sata is doing for Zambians.
Speaking at the launch of the national tree-planting programme in Chongwe's Kanakantapa area on Thursday, Dr Kaunda said he was impressed with President Sata's performance.
"Comrade secretary general of PF, you as our minister, I am saying tell our leader Michael Chilufya Sata that what you are doing, I appreciate greatly.
But it needs more than just action programmes, we need action. If you don't act now, we are completely finished as a nation. So, listen to my leader here, all of you present," he said.
"I am asking the ambassadors and high commissioners to inform their governments what he is going to say to us this afternoon because we need your support to fight this deadly war on the Zambian soil."
And justice minister Wynter Kabimba, who represented President Sata, said trees should be harnessed well as they represented one of the most important components of the ecosystem.
Kabimba, who is also PF secretary general, said trees contributed to poverty alleviation by sustaining sound and productive ecosystems for agriculture and water development.
"Zambia's emissions of greenhouse gases through man-induced deforestation are high, hence our government's resolve to embark on a massive afforestation and re-afforestation programme. This is meant to contribute to the reduction of global warming caused by man-induced deforestation. It is Zambia's contribution to this global agenda," he said.
Kabimba said Zambia was experiencing some of the negative effects of climate change.
"The national tree-planting programme that our government has embarked on cannot succeed without sound forest management and protection practices.
To address this, the government will strengthen the Ministry of Lands, natural resources and environmental protection by restructuring the forestry department, so that it can effectively and efficiently spearhead the implementation of the programme," he said.
Kabimba said more than 200,000 jobs would be created once the programme was fully operational.
Earlier, chieftainess Nkomeshya Mukamambo II, bemoaned the high rate of deforestation in her chiefdom.
She asked the government to engage the locals in the implementation of the programme.
And Chongwe member of parliament Sylvia Masebo said her constituency has had its share of deforestation arising from charcoal burning.
Labels: KENNETH KAUNDA, MICHAEL SATA, PF, TREES, WYNTER KABIMBA
Read more...
JB launches Malawi tree planting season; Urges citizens to plant more trees
By Joseph Josiah, Malawi News Agency
December 15, 2012
President Joyce Banda on Saturday said it is everyone’s responsibility to plant trees to mitigate the impact of climate change that has had adverse effects on people’s lives.
President Banda said this during the launch of 2012/2013 national tree planting season at Kasinjeni village along the river banks of Dwangwa in Kasungu.
The President said forests are a livelihood to the people of this country as they provide communities with fuel, food, materials for construction, fertility and help prevent soil erosion as well as floods.
She expressed concern that the country has over the recent years continued to lose forests to deforestation a development she said has significantly impacted on reduced agricultural productivity.
“I cannot overstate the importance of national forestry season in Malawi. When I look back at the development of our country in recent years I see more babies and less trees; we all know that that is not sustainable,” said Banda.
President Banda planting M’bawa tree
She said deforestation has also influenced siltation of rivers leading to flooding in many parts of the country especially the shire valley and lakeshore areas; saying this has, in turn, resulted in reduced breeding ground for fish hence less fish production.
“The siltation of rivers and lakes in particular has also led to reduced fish production over the years because of reduction of fish breeding grounds.
“This has an adverse impact on our people’s livelihoods particularly fishermen. The reduction in fish production has significantly impacted on financial capital and nutrition for fish dependent communities,” she explained.
The President also said unsustainable use of forest goods and services, according to a 2010 comprehensive economic study, has regrettably cost the country’s economy USS$93 million (about K33 billion). She said climate change is real and that its impacts are felt by everyone irrespective of gender, socio economic status and race.
She explained that the country’s forests conservation is one of the most important ways of mitigating effects of climate change hence people should commit to national crusade of planting more trees in their respective communities.
President Banda, however, said preventing and reversing deforestation in Malawi is not a straight forward issue as most people in the country do not have alternative sources of fuel.
“Over 90 percent depend on wood fuels for cooking and heating. It is against such background that the country must begin looking at alternatives rather than depending on forests for fuel,” she said.
On her part Minister of Environment and Climate Change Management, Jennifer Deborah Chilunga disclosed that deforestation in the country is at 2.8 percent; a development she described as worrisome.
The 2012/2013 national forestry season will run from December 15, 2012 to April 2013 under the theme “Protect and plant trees on bare hills and along riverines”. This season the country is expected to plant about 60 million trees.
Labels: JOYCE BANDA, TREES
Read more...
Re-connect with nature through tree planting, says Mukuni
By Edwin Mbulo in Livingstone
Sat 07 July 2012, 13:22 CAT
CHIEF Mukuni of Kazungula district says there is need to re-connect people with nature by promoting tree planting.
Speaking during a tree-planting exercise in Songwe Village by Greenpop, a social enterprise dedicated to tree planting, chief Mukuni said there was need to uplift the lives of the underprivileged by planting trees in deforested areas.
"We need to encourage the Greenpop initiative which is dedicated to tree planting and setting up creative ways of sustaining trees. We need to also re-connect people with nature and highlight some of the challenges of climate change and inspire a greener future," he said.
Chief Mukuni said he was delighted that the Greenpop which started in 2010 has since planted 17,000 trees in over 170 schools, community centres, orphanages and deforested areas.
Labels: CHIEF MUKUNI, TREES
Read more...
Kenya's Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai dies aged 71
By BBC News
Mon 26 Sep. 2011, 12:10 CAT
Kenya's Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai has died in Nairobi while undergoing cancer treatment. She was 71. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for promoting conservation, women's rights and transparent government - the first African woman to get the award.
She was elected as an MP in 2002 and served as a minister in the Kenyan government for a time. Ms Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement, which has planted 20-30 million trees in Africa.
'Role model and heroine'
"It is with great sadness that the family of Professor Wangari Maathai announces her passing away on 25 September, 2011, at the Nairobi Hospital, after a prolonged and bravely borne struggle with cancer," the Green Belt Movement said in a statement.
"Her loved ones were with her at the time.
"Professor Maathai's departure is untimely and a very great loss to all who knew her - as a mother, relative, co-worker, colleague, role model, and heroine; or who admired her determination to make the world a more peaceful, healthier, and better place."
The organisation did not provide further details.
Ms Maathai, who was a professor of veterinary anatomy, rose to international fame for campaigns against government-backed forest clearances in Kenya in the late 1980s-90s.
Under the former government of President Daniel Arap Moi, she was arrested several times, and vilified.
In 2008, Ms Maathai was tear-gassed during a protest against the Kenyan president's plan to increase the number of ministers in the cabinet.
In her speech accepting the Nobel prize, Ms Maathai said she hoped her own success would spur other women on to a more active role in the community.
"I hope it will encourage them to raise their voices and take more space for leadership," she said.
Labels: ENVIRONMENT, TREES
Read more...
President launches Tree Planting Day
Saturday, 04 December 2010 21:11 Top Stories
President Robert Mugabe Saturday officially launched the annual Tree Planting Day by planting a Munyii tree at Chishawasha Primary School just outside Harare, underscoring the theme of this year’s national tree planting commemoration, that is, ‘a tree today and a forest tomorrow.
President Mugabe said Zimbabwe has 17 million hectares of forest cover that is depleting at 330 thousand hectares per annum and at that rate it will take only 53 years for it to vanish. He said something drastic has to be done in the form of an aggressive replanting of trees.
The President said the 17 million hectares represent a 45% of Zimbabwe’s land area and the country has potential to tape into the international carbon markets and enjoy financial benefits.
He said the planting and sustainable use of the environment must be practical, adding that foresters and scientists have to speedily investigate how the country can benefit from the multi-billion dollar carbon market.
Brazil is already enjoying the carbon markets.
Accompanying the President were the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Management, Cde Francis Nhema, Governor and Resident Minister for Mashonaland East Province, Cde Eanias Chigwedere, Goromonzi West member of the House of Assembly,Beatrice Nyamupinga and Goromonzi East House of Assembly member, Paddy Zhanda.
The President was present with two lion cubs, a male and a female.-zbc
Labels: TREE PLANTING DAY, TREES
Read more...
Trees are life: Let’s green the nation
THROUGHOUT Zimbabwe, trees have been reduced to ash on the hearth or fireplace as they are being used for energy for cooking and heating. While rural dwellers used to use firewood for cooking, their urban counterparts have joined the fray due to the power outages that were being experienced.
As we are in the annual tree-planting season, it is vital that we understand the centrality of trees to our existence. And as we follow deliberations at the historic Climate Change Conference underway in Copenhagen, Denmark, let us not forget the role trees play in absorbing carbon dioxide, one of the greenhouse gases that absorb heat in the atmosphere and contribute to global warming.
Last week President Mugabe officially launched the National Tree Planting Programme in Gweru where he lamented the wanton destruction of trees like the mutohwe.
The President expressed hope that trees being planted nationally would cultivate a new culture of conserving flora, as they are the country’s heritage.
To date, no Zimbabwean has remained unaffected by the indiscriminate felling of trees, and the devastation of the environment.
It is because of this that an overwhelming majority has come to appreciate the importance of trees.
It is therefore in this context that we commend House of Assembly member of Uzumba constituency Simbaneuta Mudarikwa, who donated more than 2 000 tree seedlings, which were planted on National Tree Planting Day. Apart from village heads who received tree seedlings for their respective areas, all motorists driving along the Harare-Nyamapanda Highway also received tree seedlings and fliers on how to plant and care for the trees.
This was indeed a commendable exercise by the Uzumba House of Assembly member, imagine the impact such a gesture would have if replicated by all the 210 House of Assembly legislators.
We must not only wait for December to plant trees, but should do it throughout the year since those who cut them down do not know time or season.
Tobacco farmers should embark on massive reforestation to ensure sustainable use of wood as fuel for curing tobacco.
Our farmers cannot continue growing tobacco in an unsustainable way. For every tree chopped to cure tobacco, 10 should be planted in its place. Homesteads, roadsides, recreational parks and small rural fields should all be re-greened.
There are areas where it is difficult to get trees for building purposes.
This scarcity, which affects nearly everybody, has created conditions that make most people value trees and therefore receptive to efforts aimed at redressing the damage done to vegetation.
There is willingness to do something about reversing the degradation. The rainfall so far this year has been kind. It provided a sound basis for the annual tree planting activities, as Zimbabweans demonstrated their commitment to conservation of natural resources.
The benefits are becoming self-evident to communities and if every household planted several trees each year and looked after them, in less than a decade the effect would be phenomenal.
The level of awareness and degree of interest are indications of the success of the national tree-planting programme.
To restore the lost forests, in some areas, would halt the slide towards desertification, attempt to minimise the effects of global warming, increase the capacity of land to retain more water by preventing run-off, effectively increasing agricultural productivity. It would make the rural areas more pleasant to live in.
But, in the meantime, there is need to find cheaper energy alternatives because this is one of the main factors together with tobacco curing responsible for much of the destruction of forests, as people attempt to provide for their fuel requirements.
The continued participation of villagers and schoolchildren in these activities is critical. Village elders can encourage re-afforestation, police destructive activities, while in children the programme is nurturing a generation with a high degree of environmental consciousness.
Labels: FORESTRY, NATIONAL TREE PLANTING PROGRAMME, TREES
Read more...
President plants Tree of the Year
Midlands Bureau
President Mugabe yesterday officially launched the National Tree Planting programme at the Midlands State University in the Vungu District just outside Gweru.
The event, attended by Forestry Commission officials, Government ministers, including Environment and Natural Resources Management MInister Francis Nhema, as well as high-ranking Government officials, was held under the theme: "Combating Climate Change; Plant and Conserve Trees".
President Mugabe officially launched the annual tree planting event by planting a mutohwe tree (uxakuxaku in Ndebele and snot apple in English).
The mutohwe tree, whose botanical name is Azanzu garkeana, is the tree of the year, which would be planted throughout the country.
The President lamented the wanton destruction of trees like the mutohwe, whose fruit is sweet and nutritious.
"What is happening to the fruit (mutohwe)? Taisienda muzvuru tichinodya matohwe apo taitamba," he said.
President Mugabe expressed hope that the mutohwe and other trees being planted nationally would help cultivate a new culture of conserving trees and vegetation, as they were our heritage.
Hundreds of people converged at Kaguvi Vocational Training Centre to mark the tree planting event.
The institution had prepared 50 holes for the mutohwe tree and 100 for the Jatropha tree.
Kaguvi was initially supposed to host the official launch today before it was rescheduled to yesterday.
Minister Nhema urged people to plant the mutohwe tree, which had been chosen as the tree of the year.
Later in an interview, Forestry Commission chief executive officer Mr Darlington Duwa said their target was to plant tqo million trees nationwide within 12 months.
"We chose the mutohwe tree because of its adaptability to various sites and because of its other uses such as browse for animals and medicinal properties.
"We would want the tree to be planted in as many sites as possible," he said.
Mr Duwa said the call to plant trees this year had been well taken as the Forestry Commission received overwhelming inquiries from people from all walks of life.
"The trees need to be protected from veld fires, grazing animals and human beings.
"Most trees and vegetation have been ravaged by veld fires over the past years. We are creating a lot of awareness on the protection of trees in communities," he said.
He urged people to put in place fireguards and avoid starting fires between July and October, as these were high risk months for fire.
Mr Duwa said the planting of trees would help fight challenges posed by climate change as trees reduced global warming.
"Climate Change is not a myth but a fact.
"Our leaders will be meeting in Copenhagen in Denmark to try and agree on a post-Kyoto Protocol climate change regime.
"It is a recognised fact that while Africa contributes the least to global warming, it is going to suffer the most.
"Our theme is in line with what is happening in the world," he said.
Labels: MUGABE, NATIONAL TREE PLANTING PROGRAMME, TREES
Read more...
