PROTECT WETLANDS

YESTERDAY Zimbabwe joined the world in commemorating World Wetlands Day and with recent events this rainy season, the day could not have come at any better time.

Many people who have built houses on wetlands have lived to regret the decisions as the areas have been flooded.

More blame should be given to the city councils that are sanctioning the building of houses at these wetlands.

Besides dangers of flooding at these residential areas, the country actually needs these wetlands for the survival of mankind and the rest of the ecosystem.

It is a good thing that there are efforts by government to formulate wetlands management guidelines to provide a road map and tool kit on the protection of wetlands.

Wetlands are vanishing three times faster than forests, about 35 percent have disappeared since the 1970s yet they contribute significantly to climate change mitigation and adaptation, through capturing and storing carbon to reduce atmospheric greenhouse gases and providing resilience to hazards such as flooding, storm surge.

The Harare Wetlands Trust once implored councillors to work with Community Based Organisations in conserving wetlands.

That job really belongs to all of us as Zimbabweans.

Water is essential in every country and its importance to all forms of life cannot be over-emphasised.

In recognition of the United Nations designation of 2013 as the International Year of Water Cooperation,

every continent, country, province, town and person have a role to play to safeguard this most important natural resource.

The important role of biodiversity and ecosystems in providing for water security, and therefore for sustainable development should be stressed to every Zimbabwean.

It is a good thing that Zimbabwe also joins the rest of the world in celebrating bio-diversity every year.

Biodiversity implies the variety and constant change of plant and animal life in a particular habitat or in the world as a whole and water is central to the preservation of life everywhere in the world.

Water sustains all the ecosystems of our world, but particularly forests and wetlands, ensure that clean water is available to human communities.

Water in turn underpins all ecosystem services, and if we can, as a country and people, safeguard water then we would have gone far in solving the biodiversity problems affecting our world.

Water is essential for life. No living being on planet Earth can survive without it. It is a prerequisite for human health and well-being as well as for the preservation of the environment.

Now is the time to ask ourselves what we are doing as Zimbabweans to avoid polluting water and what we are doing as individuals to save every droplet of water under our care.

Outbreaks of communicable diseases like cholera and typhoid have haunted Harare because the city lacks consistent supplies of clean and safe water.