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Leonard Ncube
Victoria Falls Reporter
With close to 300 000ha of indigenous woodland and forest being lost each year to illegal wood cutting, the Forestry Commission, as the lead agency in a multi-agency force, has launched a nationwide blitz targeting illegal dealers in firewood and charcoal and has suspended the issue of permits to sell firewood.

Lupane has become a hotspot of illegal felling of Zambezi teak, a valuable hardwood, and Muzarabani is seeing swathes of mopani trees chopped down for firewood and charcoal.

Firewood dealers throng major highways countrywide with their huge stacks of firewood sold to motorists, most from urban areas.

The blitz is a Government initiative implemented by the Ministry of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality with the Forestry Commission as the lead agency backed by the Environmental Management Agency, Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks), the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement, police and local authorities.

A team led by Forestry Commission director-general Mr Abedinico Marufu descended on Lupane yesterday where they started by educating villagers about the negative effects of cutting down trees and destroying forests. People were only allowed to cut trees for home consumption, and then only in some instances, and not for commercial purposes.

While no arrests had been made yesterday as the blitz was rolled out, loads of firewood were confiscated at Masenyane in Lupane and everyone found selling firewood or charcoal was warned of possible arrest.

“We are conducting a national blitz to control illegal selling of firewood. There is a lot of deforestation going on and we are losing forests at a rate of 262 000ha annually,” said Mr Marufu.

“This has gone down a bit from 300 000ha because of efforts we have put in place and some of the worst places in the country is Masenyane here in Lupane where there are stacks of firewood cut from Zambezi teak which is one of our best trees in the country.

“We came here to raise awareness for people to stop this practice because it is bad for the country. After the awareness we will be arresting anyone defying this, and this is the message across the country. Let’s stop cutting down trees.”

Mr Marufu said people should know that it is not easy to replace indigenous forests as it takes about 200 years on average for a tree to grow. Besides the loss of forest in Matabeleland North where there are a lot of hardwood forest reserves, the cutting down of trees has a serious impact because of Kalahari sand soils.

Zimbabwe is prone to desertification because of the effects of climate change caused by a high carbon footprint emanating from clandestine cutting of trees.

Mr Marufu said in Muzarabani, truckloads of charcoal had been confiscated from illegal dealers.

“This is a blitz where we intend to send a message countrywide. Here we have impounded all stacks but not arrested anyone, but in Muzarabani there is a lot of charcoal dealing there.

“Our teams went there last week to raise awareness and we have come to a stage where we are arresting because we have raised awareness. Those that don’t cooperate will be arrested,” he said.

The blitz is taking place along major highways countrywide, with teams already in Masvingo along the Harare-Beitbridge highway and in Chivhu.

There will be similar exercises in Matabeleland South along the Bulawayo-Plumtree and Bulawayo-Gwanda-Beitbridge road, and in Manicaland and the Mashonaland provinces.

Mr Marufu said the blitz will move into urban areas where there is a ready market for all firewood and charcoal illegally produced in rural communities.

Kusile Rural District Council chief executive Mr Christopher Tshuma, who was at the awareness campaign, said most people that sell firewood did so because it generates quick money, but said people have other means of survival in their communities.