ZimConservation

Source: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs – Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN)
Date: 29 Sep 2009

HARARE, 29 September 2009 (IRIN) – The increasing incidence of wild fires is eroding food production in Zimbabwe, which remains a food insecure country despite a turnaround in agricultural production.

The Environment Management Agency, a government department, said recently that veld fires were being reported mainly in areas settled by new farmers, the recipients of President Robert Mugabe’s fast-track land reform programme, which began in 2000 and has led to more than 4,000 white commercial farms being redistributed to landless blacks. More online at ReliefWeb…

Harare — President Mugabe on Tuesday joined other world leaders at a summit on climate change at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

The summit, which ran on the sidelines of the ongoing 64th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, was aimed at generating momentum towards sealing a new climate change deal to replace the Kyoto Protocol that has failed to garner full international support. More online at allAfrica.com…

MUTARE – The Police have released without charge, Patrick Ochieng, the Kenyan environmental activist, arrested on Wednesday on accusations that he had made political statements undesirable to the government of Zimbabwe. He was arrested and held for several hours without any charges being laid against him. Ochieng was then charged with inciting and subverting a constitutional government. He was released but his passport was confiscated. More online at The Zimbabwe Times…

Harare — It is Friday afternoon and a man masquerading as a gold buyer gets to a stunted bushy area near Sanyati Bridge. Cries of joy and the blaring sound of sungura music from Daiton Somanje’s current hit album, Haisi Nyaya, greet him from a distance. Coming closer to the source of music and jubilation, he discovers there is no proper shelter and the commercial activities take place in the pits, caves and under the shade of stunted bushes. More online at allAfrica.com…

Wildlife ranchers in southern Zimbabwe say new partners are being forced upon them by Zanu-PF ministers. They believe it is part of a new phase in Zimbabwe’s nine-year-old land reform programme – this time without the militias. More online at Eyewitness News…

MUTARE – Zimbabwean police have arrested a Kenyan environmental activist accusing him of making undesirable political statements during a workshop organized by the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA).

The Kenyan, identified by other participants at the three-day workshop as Patrick Ochieng, was being held at the Mutare Central Police Station last night (as at 6pm). The participants say Ochieng is a director of Ujamaa Center, an environmental lobbying organisation based in Nairobi. More online at The Zimbabwe Times…

Government will not tolerate the wanton destruction of the environment, particularly through veld fires, Acting President Joice Mujuru said yesterday.

She warned that stern measures would be taken against anyone found guilty of such offences.

Launching the National Environment Policy and Strategies in Harare, the Acting President appealed to farmers and the general public to be responsible and responsive when it came to the prevention and management of veld fires. More online at The Herald…

Government has expressed concern over global climate change and is now in the process of adopting strategies that mitigate its impact.

Environment and Natural Resources Management Minister Francis Nhema said climate change was the most serious environmental problem that the world currently faced. More online at The Herald…

MASVINGO – Major general Engelbert Rugeje who is the army’s chief of staff has grabbed Wanezi Block Ranch in Mwenezi to join a long list of Zanu-PF officials who have grabbed conservancies in the semi arid Masvingo Province. More online at The Zimbabwe Times…

VAST tracts of land in Matabeleland have been destroyed by veld fires resulting in pastures being wiped out in some areas.

In Matabeleland South, the worst affected districts include Umzingwane, Gwanda, Filabusi, Bulilima and Matobo. Prime cattle ranching areas such as Fort Rixon in Filabusi and Figtree in Bulilima have not been spared by the veld fires. More online at the Chronicle…

Harare — The Environmental Management Agency has fined the Harare City Council US$3 800 for failing to clear illegal dumps and piles of garbage accumulating at various points in the city.

The city has been given until Friday to pay the fine, while at the same time speed up the removal of garbage piling in the suburbs and threatening to block some streets. More online at AllAfrica.com…

Environment and Natural Resources Management Minister Francis Nhema has called for stiffer punishment of poachers.

Minister Nhema urged the police and the judiciary to play their role to weed out poaching that has for long been threatening to wipe out the country’s wildlife. More online at The Herald…

The clean up initiative by the social mobilisation taskforce is spreading from the capital’s central business district to high-density suburbs, in a move that is set to promote a healthy nation ahead of the rainy season.

Following the launch of the clean up campaign by the Vice President Cde Joice Mujuru in the central business district in the capital last week, communities in the high density suburbs have boarded the roller coaster with the assistance of councilors. More online at ZBC News…

VICTORIA FALLS – The changing climate patterns are imposing challenges to agriculture in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) region and are the biggest threats facing mankind, a Cabinet Minister said on Thursday.

Officially opening the second joint meeting of the Ministers of Agriculture and Environment underway in the resort town of Victoria Falls, the incoming chairman, Dr Joseph Made, who is the Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development said Zimbabwe’s agriculture sector, like the rest of the region, has been affected by shortages of inputs such as seed and fertilizers. More online at The Zimbabwe Telegraph…

A national clean up exercise which is set to promote a clean environment in order to prevent disease outbreaks has been launched in the capital.

The clean up exercise which will spread to 44 towns and cities has coincided with the National Sanitation week and Clean World campaign month. More online at ZBC News…

KARIBA- The Zimbabwe Conservation Task force is appealing for funds to curb rampant poaching that is reportedly said to be involving ministers and senior government officials in Mashonaland West.

According to a document obtained by Radio Voice of the People, some villagers are involved in well planned poaching syndicates using snares and AK47 guns where some top government ministers and army officials are implicated. More online at Radio VOP…

KARIBA- The Zimbabwe Conservation Task force is appealing for funds to curb rampant poaching that is reportedly said to be involving ministers and senior government officials in Mashonaland West. According to a document obtained by Radio Voice of the People, some villagers are involved in well planned poaching syndicates using snares and AK47 guns where some top government ministers and army officials are implicated. ”There are currently an elephant, 2 buffalo, and 4 zebras walking around with snares embedded in their flesh and a report has been made to National Parks officials who have recently retrieved over 100 wire snares from the bush in the Charara area and the same number from the Mopani Bay area.”The report however reveals that poaching is now a challenge for the government. ” It is common knowledge that the rhino poaching is critical in the country where there were over 50 black rhinos in the Midlands Conservancy and we were shocked to hear that, about 2 or 3 years ago that there were only 21 left. Now, the latest report is even more disturbing as it is alleged that there are now only 5 rhinos left there.” More online at The Zimbabwean…

Harare — Government will introduce stiffer penalties for those who are caught indiscriminately starting fires.

Environment and Natural Resources Management Minister Francis Nhema said this yesterday when he visited the victims of the veld fire that claimed one life in Chishawasha on Monday. More online at AllAfrica.com…

A high powered Zimbabwean ministerial delegation is expected here today to attend the Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN) annual regional stakeholders dialogue.

In an interview yesterday, the chief executive officer and head of diplomatic missions at FANRPAN, Dr Lindiwe Sibanda, said the Zimbabwe delegation would include the Minister of Water Resources Sipepa Nkomo, the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Francis Nhema, the Minister of National Healing and Reconciliation Sekai Holland, COMESA Secretary General Mr Sindiso Ngwenya who is also the chairperson of the organisation, and officials from the Agricultural Research Centre which co-ordinates FANRPAN programmes in the country. More online at the Chronicle…