Musika, with support from the Embassy of Sweden in Lusaka, facilitated & successfully held a consultative stakeholders’ meeting on effects of deforestation which leads to climate change & actions that can be taken to curb this vice in Southern Province.

The meeting which was held on 27th September in Choma and officiated by Southern Province Minister Cornelius Mweetwa, brought together 16 chiefs from various chiefdoms in the province. Present at the meeting also were government officials, private sector players and Non-governmental Organisations (NGOs) who are also looking at the issues of deforestation, afforestation and agroforestry in Southern Province.

The participants discussed challenges around deforestation and came up with specific activities that could assist sustainably address the problem in the province and ultimately help mitigate the effects of climate change. During the same meeting, Musika also presented information that was gathered from the Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) that were held in 38 chiefdoms of Southern Province, whose objective was to get a common understanding of the extent of the problem of deforestation and possible community-owned solutions.

The following were submissions from the various stakeholders in terms of what the government needs to do to address the problem:

  • Sensitize citizens and raise awareness on the detrimental effects of deforestation

through various platforms, especially social media targeting the young population.

  • An immediate ban on cutting trees and charcoal burning and suspend the of

issuance of tree cutting permits. The ban on tree cutting should last for up to 10

years to allow for the regeneration of woodlots and tree species in most

communities. In case a full ban is not feasible, charcoal production and tree cutting

should be strictly regulated.

  • The government needs to recapitalize the forestry department to ensure that they

can fully enforce the laws and rules around forest management. The forestry

department only works up to 17:00 hours leaving time for illegal logging activities

at night, hence the need to revert to 24/7 work schedules for the department.

  • Government should support carbon trading programs (carbon credits) drawing

lessons on the successes of what was done in Eastern Province.

  • Government should gazette and protect water catchment areas to avoid streams

drying up. They should put in place laws that prevent timber harvesting from these

areas.

  • Government needs to streamline the state laws with traditional laws. They need to

empower traditional leaders to enforce laws that prevent deforestation. As it

stands, traditional laws are not state laws.

  • Government needs to engage as many stakeholders as possible in developing

interventions around prevention of deforestation.

  • Promotion of tree planting programs is necessary. Both indigenous trees and exotic

ones need to be produced, especially fruit trees. Promotion of fast-growing

bamboo species that produce superior charcoal in a quicker time frame should be

done.

  • Govt needs to develop a forest sector fund that will be used for protection of

forests. Money from taxes such as carbon tax need to be channeled to this fund.

  • Government needs to also target charcoal users, especially the urban areas, by

providing them with cheaper sources of cooking energy such as efficient cook

stoves, gas stoves, and expediting the rural electrification programme.

  • Eco tourism should be encouraged by Govt.
  • Govt needs to streamline afforestation and environmental management into

school curriculums in order to start changing behaviours of young people.

  • Government needs to encourage citizens on the use of biofuels

Traditional Leaders, Private Sector, and Non-Governmental Organizations

Were Committed to do the following:

  • Resource mobilization. The private sector, especially NGOs are willing to mobilize

resources to protect forests

  • All parties here were willing to raise awareness to farmers in various chiefdoms on

the detriments of charcoal burning and deforestation and what can be done about

it.

  • Traditional leaders willing to be role models to subjects when it comes to

afforestation activities. They committed to show an example to their subjects and

were encouraged to desist from engaging in vices destructive to forests as they

were ambassadors of curbing climate change.

  • NGOs were willing to support initiatives that provide alternative livelihoods to

deforesters.

  • Traditional leaders willing to help subjects form cooperatives that can tap into CDF

funding for alternative livelihoods.

  • Chiefs should lobby to govt to empower chiefs as traditional authority to be part of

law enforcement

  • Chiefs need to promote planting trees. Natural barriers and other ways of getting

subjects to plant trees should be promoted

  • NGOs are willing to promote and support interventions in chiefdoms that combat

deforestation. Interventions that support carbon credits, bamboo charcoal, and

other afforestation initiatives would be supported.

  • Chiefs were committed to intensify enforcement of traditional by-laws and

cultural practices in favour of curbing climate change.

  • Stakeholders, especially traditional leaders were willing to support the formation

of community forest management groups.

  • Stakeholders were committed to promoting agro-forestry with trees beneficial to

the soils such as Gliricidia among others.

  • Chiefs were willing to partner with any stakeholders in sensitizing their subjects

on use of biofuel to reduce charcoal use