THE Minister of Environment, Water and Climate, Saviour Kasukuwere has castigated the mushrooming of infrastructural developments on wetlands and called for a balance in the utilisation of wetlands and development on wetlands.
The minister was addressing journalists at a press briefing ahead of the World Wetlands Day main commemorations scheduled for Mutasa District today (Friday January 31 2014).
The day, however, is commemorated annually every February 2 for the purpose of reminding and teaching people the importance of wetlands.
Minister Kasukuwere said there must be a balance between wetland utilisation, agricultural and infrastructural development.
“It’s not the amount of money or the millions that are important, it’s the safety of our people that is important,” Minister Kasukuwere said.
“Why should we have the whole country become a reserve because some people feel they must build on wetlands?
“Why should people own wetlands and if they do, what do they do with those wetlands?”
There has recently been heated debate between authorities and land owners on whose property some of the gazetted wetlands are.
Land owners feel they have the right to do anything on the wetlands since they fall on their property.
A Government Gazette of August 2 2013 General Notice 380 of 2013 on the Protection of Harare Wetlands stipulates that, “private owners of land cited in Schedule and their proprietary rights will not be violated by this declaration”.
However, the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) states that the wetland and piece of land are two different things and the Ministry of Environment, Water and Climate reserves the right on the use of wetlands as they serve a whole community.
The sinking of boreholes in various areas as an alternative source of drinking water, has also resulted in the drying up and disturbance of wetlands resulting in lobby groups calling for stern measures.
Minister Kasukuwere said since wetlands are important for agriculture and many other uses, it is imperative that sustainable utilisation of the wetlands be done.
“My predecessor gazetted the wetlands and therefore there should be a balance between the utilisation of these wetlands and agricultural uses and infrastructural development on these wetlands,” he said.
Numerous activities in Zimbabwe have seen the development of multi-million dollar malls, houses and churches among other infrastructure on wetlands despite calls by such organisations as EMA and lobby groups to have Environmental Impact Assessments before developments are made.
While history clearly shows how the local people traditionally preserved wetlands and other environmental structures such as forests, current trends in urban areas and peri-urban areas have seen a departure from the traditional norm.
A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally.
These areas include swamps, marshes, and bogs.
They can have saltwater, brackish or freshwater.
Many communities such as Magwenzi in Chivi District and Domborinoyera in Mutasa District are deriving maximum economic and social benefits from wetlands.
This year’s theme for World Wetlands Day is ‘Wetlands and Agriculture: Partners for Community Empowerment and Growth.’