Remember, water is life
THE wetlands issue must be taken seriously by all stakeholders, lest Zimbabwe loses all its wetlands in 20 years time.
The article we published on Wednesday, headlined “Zim to lose wetlands by 2040” highlighted that the country is bound to lose wetlands by 2040 if the environment was not conserved.
Environment, Climate Change, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Mangaliso Ndhlovu made the remarks during a virtual meeting on World Wetlands Day commemorations.
Among the issues he cited as exerting unbearable pressure on wetlands were population growth, urbanisation and consumption patterns.
In Zimbabwe, wetlands make up approximately four percent of the country, including dams and lakes. Of the available wetlands in the country, a meagre 21 percent are stable while 18 percent are severely degraded and 61 percent moderately degraded.
A lot of effort therefore has to be put to upgrade the 61 percent moderately degraded wetlands and the 18 percent severely degraded ones.
Wetlands play critical functions which include protecting us from floods, droughts and other disasters, providing food and livelihoods to millions of people and they support rich biodiversity; and they store more carbon than any other ecosystem.
In essence, humanity and all animal life need wetlands for survival.
But as the minister noted in his speech, “It is sad and shocking to note that globally, we are losing wetlands three times faster than natural forests and wetland-dependent species are in serious decline. Consequently, about 87 percent of the global wetland resource has been lost since 1 700.”
Water, food and energy security are dependent on wetlands functioning and are necessary conditions for economic development and poverty alleviation.
Government and local authorities influence and shape the evolution of towns and cities by integrating the principles of wetland wise use into planning and management decision-making therefore the protection of wetlands, particularly in urban areas, is under our control.
“Wetlands should be considered as solution providers within an urban and peri-urban context, which can mitigate risks from a changing climate, support food production for a growing population, supply water and generate income through tourism and recreation, said the minister.
Therefore wetlands should be integrated into planning and decision-making thus becoming part of the development agenda.
We need to protect wetlands for our future generations as they are critical ecosystems.
It is a good thing that the ministry of Environment, Climate Change, Tourism and Hospitality Industry is working towards finalizing the Zimbabwe National Wetland Policy and the Ecologically Sensitive Areas Management Guidelines, whose gazetting is aimed at cultivating a culture of sustainable management of wetlands.
Water use globally has increased six fold in 100 years and continues to rise by 1 percent annually yet only 2.5 percent of water on Earth is fresh water, less than one percent of which is usable.