Let’s adopt compulsory reforestation for sustainable development

IF one generation plants a tree, the next generation will sit under a shade,” says one Chinese proverb. One thing you can’t help noticing when in Beijing, China, other than the high levels of infrastructure development is the harmonious, natural blend of buildings, roads and vegetation. Magnificent trees run alongside roads alike and flowers brighten the sidewalks. One is left to wander how in the wake of industrialisation the capital has managed to maintain a green environment.

The Chinese government has given high priority to urban afforestation since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. In the early 1950s, chairman Mao Zedong initiated a campaign to promote tree and flower growing throughout the country. The response was strong, both in terms of spontaneous and planned planting. However, it was recognised that further measures and incentives were necessary if tree planting was to keep pace with population growth and industrialisation. Over the past two decades, legislation and regulations related to both general and urban tree-planting have proliferated.

As a result the capital has experienced impressive progress in tree planting over the past 32 years. Its forest coverage rate has increased from 12,83% in 1980 to 38,6% by the end of 2012. The percentage of green coverage in the urban area has risen from 20,08% to 46,2% according to the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Landscape and Forestry. Over 32 years more than 78 million people have planted more than 189 million trees with a survival rate of more than 88%.

In 1979, the Chinese central committee designated March 12 as a national tree planting day. In 1981, the fourth session of the fifth national people’s congress adopted a “resolution on the unfolding of a nationwide voluntary tree planting campaign” This resolution stipulated that every able-bodied citizen between the ages of 11 and 60 should plant three to five trees per year or do the equivalent work in seedling, cultivation or provide funds equivalent to the work required or pay heavy fines. Supporting documentation instructs all units to report population statistics to the local afforestation committees as a basis for workload allocation. The tree planting campaign was, therefore, actually compulsory. It is believed that at least one billion trees have been planted in China since 1982.

The 1982 provisional rules and regulations on the forest and garden management of cities declare that historic, rare and large trees are State property and that their presence should be documented, marketed and protected. Tree cutting should be done with permission from the Beijing Forestry Bureau and notification of the Beijing Institute of Landscape and Gardening and heavy fines are imposed if trees are cut without permission.

Forests are home to 80% of all terrestrial biodiversity. The forests of the world supply a significant amount of moisture that creates rain thus contributing to the hydrological cycle.

Furthermore, trees can be used to improve the quality of human life by soaking up pollution and dust from the air, rebuild natural habitats and ecosystems, mitigate global warming since forests facilitate bio sequestration of atmospheric carbon dioxide, and harvest for timber.

However, here in Zimbabwe, we are losing forests at an incredibly higher rate with sporadic and unco-ordinated efforts to reforest. Each year more than 13 million hectares of forests are lost in the whole world. Recognising the importance of forests and finding ways to decrease deforestation has been at the forefront of climate change negotiations for the last few years. Among negotiators, government and observers, it is clearly recognised that to combat climate change, reforestation should be seriously considered.

Zimbabwe has about 54% (21 million ha) proportion of land covered by forest with an estimated rate of deforestation of 1,5% per year. Over the years, Zimbabwe has witnessed a reduction in the quantity and quality of its natural resources, mainly as a result of uncontrolled deforestation due to erratic power supply and lack of alternative and clean energy sources. The majority of people in Zimbabwe both in the rural and urban areas live off natural resources for farming and energy and this has led to increasing deforestation and land degradation across the country.

The quest for survival has given birth to rampant cutting down of trees impacting negatively on the environment. We have witnessed massive siltation of minor and major rivers alike across the whole country as a result of soil erosion caused by the loss of tree cover, the end result being that of a decline in agricultural production. Zimbabwe has registered a decline in maize crop production for the past decade and according to Fewsnet, 38% of the population is food poor and needing food assistance beginning of 2020. The decrease is mainly attributed to the late onset of rains, the erratic rainfall pattern and occurrence of prolonged dry spells during planting seasons, evidence of the global climatic changes.

The Transitional Stabilisation Plan ( TSP) acknowledges that agriculture, being the backbone of our economy underpinning economic growth, food security and poverty eradication continues to experience systematic challenges exacerbated by prolonged periods of drought caused by climate change. SDG Goal 15 talks about the protection, restoration and promotion of sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss. Accordingly, there is need to integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes to reverse the loss of environmental resources. Reforestation, which is the natural or calculated restocking of existing forests and woodlands that have been depleted, usually through deforestation is one such initiative towards attaining the above-mentioned goal. This is a call on the part of government to urgently address reforestation in an endeavour to come up with strategies to restore food security in the country.

The government, through the Environment, Water and Climate ministry in conjunction with the Forestry Commission, Environmental Management Agency, local authorities with support from development partners and civil society should come up with an aggressive and compulsory national reforestation plan. The plan should set out the aims, overall layout, priorities for reforestation efforts in the country. Reforestation projects are not just about regenerating forests, other elements like livelihood generation, education, better agricultural practices, poverty alleviation, promotion of FDI, restoration of biodiversity and catchment protection will be integrated in order to harness full benefits from the project. As government is currently seized with work on the national development strategy, it is critical that climate change issues be mainstreamed into the plan as this will impact agricultural productivity and ultimately the GDP of the economy thereby causing inclusive growth and development of the nation.

There is need to leverage on the technical and financial support from development partners for a resounding success in the initiative. IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva, at the virtual launch of the Global Centre on Adaptation Africa held in September 2020 said: “More than any other region, Sub-Saharan Africa is vulnerable to the impact of climate change, which threatens lives and livelihoods and undermines economic growth and after the current COVID-19 crisis, boosting resilience is an urgent priority so it is vital we share the knowledge and best practice that can help accelerate climate adaptation.”

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