A new born baby has to draw its first breath to survive, a grandmother in the village needs herbs to make medicine to boost her grandchild’s health and to be able to do this there need to be an adequate supply of oxygen, plants and trees. Trees and forests are a key component of our ecosystems. They provide us with oxygen, medicine, food, shelter and climate regulation. Our livelihoods are supported and sustained by natural resources that we obtained from the environment. The environment can be defined as surroundings in which an organism operates including air, water, land, natural resources, flora, fauna and their interrelationships. The environment is based on inter-related elements and systems. Any alterations or effects generated from one element or system have implications on the whole environment.
Trees and forests sustain livelihoods by providing natural resources and ecosystem services. To access shelter, timber is required in order to provide for building material and furniture. The health care and medical facilities make use of herbs and various vegetational resources to make different kinds of pharmaceuticals. Forests play a key role in the hydrological cycle through evapotranspiration. The rains that feed into our agricultural inputs and activities to produce food and ensure food security are facilitated by forests and trees. Through photosynthesis, forests are capable of capturing and sequestering carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that is contributing towards global warming and climate change. The ability of forests to capture and sequester carbon dioxide is a key solution towards withdrawing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere hence, combating climate change.
Our livelihoods’ needs and demands are increasing daily due to population growth and unsustainable consumption patterns. These actions are exerting pressure on forests resources resulting in deforestation. Deforestation is the cutting down or clearance of trees and forests land without replacement of the extracted resources. According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO) 2015 report, Zimbabwe loses about 330,000 hectares of forest land per year. This means that more than 60 million trees are lost per year. This figure is alarming and discomforting for future generation as they may fail to have a healthy ecosystem.
Deforestation is caused by a series of human activities. Expansion of arable land to advance agricultural activities results in the clearing of vast pieces of land. Demand for fuel-wood mostly in rural areas is also another factor which is pressuring forest resources. Urban expansion and population growth have also significantly contributed towards deforestation by clearing land for developing houses, roads and public infrastructure. Timber production for furniture, stationary, electrical poles and construction developments is also a serious threat to forest resources.
The earth is a system and its organisms and components are interdependent. Humans depend on forests for natural and organic resources whilst forests depend on our human activities for growth and development. Human activities are seriously contributing towards deforestation which threatens livelihoods especially the marginalised in rural areas including wild life and animals. Deforestation affects the quality of livelihoods by contributing to land degradation through soil erosion which relatively reduces the outputs of agricultural products hence, resulting in hunger and food insecurity. People in rural areas depend on forests for fuel for cooking purposes, food for consumption and income generation by selling wood or breeding bees to sell honey. Deforestation erodes the resources that develop and sustain the livelihoods of local communities therefore, it results in malnutrition, poverty and conflicts.
Deforestation also reduces the biodiversity pool through habitat loss and disruption which push certain species towards extinction and causes ecosystem imbalance. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the Formosan Clouded Leopard (Neofelis nebulosa brachyura), Paradise Parrot (Psephotellus pulcherrimus), Mount Glorious Torrent Frog (Taudactylus diurnus) and Javan Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus) are some of the species that have been declared extinct over the past decades due to loss of habitat and food caused by deforestation. Farmers in Rusape, Zimbabwe depend on forest resources to dry and cure their tobacco produce. These actions reduced the forest land resources which made the area prone to external forces. Cyclone Idai greatly affected the Rusape region due to bare land and distorted forests which act as barriers towards strong winds and floods.
Deforestation is a global problem and in Zimbabwe it is of great concern because forests and land are key natural resources in terms of fuelling the economy and livelihoods. To curb and solve deforestation, communities need to practice afforestation on land which is bare and reforestation whenever one cuts down a tree. An important point to note is to shift towards sustainable and clean energy such as biogas and solar and managing consumption levels of paper and agricultural products, because the future of our livelihoods depend on the actions we take today.
