‘ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION NEEDS MORE FUNDING’

THE 0.8 percent budgetary allocation towards environmental protection in Zambia is inadequate from an economic development perspective, says Care for Nature Zambia has expressed concern.

Care for Nature Executive Director, Nsama Kearns, said in Kitwe that there was need to increase funding towards environmental protection.

She said it was also prudent to domesticate the international conventions and implement national policies on environment and climate change.

Ms Kearns said that the country would easily combat change, create jobs at grassroot level as well as protect the wealth of the country if the environment was protected and allocated enough resources.

"When we talk about environmental protection, we are basically talking about coming up with the best ways in which we can use our natural resources without creating environmental problems such as climate change which in turn negatively affect livelihoods and slow down the process of achieving sustainable development," she said.

Ms Kearns said the environmental protection also looked at repairing and reversing degradation and loss of biodiversity where possible, hence the need for more resources to the sector .

She stated that economic development was a long term process that focused on producing goods and services for a country to gain enough revenue for all its citizens to attain an adequate standard of living.

She stressed the need to pay extra attention to this particular area as both the Government and people depended on natural resources to generate income and produce goods and services.