BY Cliff Chiduku URBANISATION often comes at a cost, especially if poorly managed.
It entails clearing the natural environment in order to build man-made structures such as houses, factories, shopping malls, roads, schools and hospitals. Poor urban planning, corruption and greed in the wake of rapid massive human settlements and expansion of commercial and industrial developments has seen such fragile ecosystems as wetlands disappearing worldwide due to pressure from land developers.
A case in point is the fate of some of the 200 Harare homeseekers who are set to lose their residential stands pegged on a wetland and reserved land along Airport Road despite paying for them in 2019.
“We later received an ecological report that showed that some of the allocated stands are in a wetland so those again will be affected because there are no two ways on wetlands conservation. There is no attempt to prejudice stands,” Harare City Council acting spokesperson Innocent Ruwende told NewsDay last week.
It is quite interesting why the appeared not to even have bothered to follow its own bylaws and the national dictates as set out in the Environment Management Act (Ema) that mandate that environmental assessments be done before any developments are approved. And why it took so long for the ecological report to be released is more than puzzling.
As the council spokesperson states that “there are no two ways on wetlands”, when the local authority identified that land for human settlement, was it not obvious that the area was a wetland? Wetlands are fragile ecosystems rich in biodiversity and constitute resources of great ecological, economic and recreational value, so they should not be disturbed.
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As demanded by the Ramsar Convention to which Zimbabwe is a signatory, to ensure environmental sustainability, development activities on wetlands must be conducted under an established authority and in accordance with international legal frameworks on the protection of wetlands.
There is no doubt that the invasion of wetlands is not only disastrous, but counter-productive. This is the reason why in 2021, Zimbabwe gazetted a wetland map, which recognises that wetlands are ecologically sensitive areas that need protection and preservation.
Humanity can save itself from extinction if it sees itself as part of an ecosystem that needs balance, caring and proactive action. Climate change, water scarcity, loss of biodiversity, weather hazards are likely to worsen if humanity continues on this self-destructive path. There is need for mindset change across the whole country by embracing sustainable and environmentally-friendly lifestyles.
However, the gap between policy and practice within Zimbabwe’s governance system has been blamed for the depletion of wetlands.
An example of this policy and practice mismatch is the selective application of the law whereby houses built on wetlands in high-density suburbs have been demolished, yet in elite suburbs massive developments have been allowed on wetlands such as on the Belvedere wetlands where the LongChen Plaza was constructed.
If Zimbabwe is serious about protecting its wetlands, government and local authorities must not allow further land grabs or invasions of wetlands by politically-connected individuals.
That wetlands are essential for the survival of mankind cannot be overemphasised. Wetland functions include flood control, shoreline stabilisation, water purification, cultural value, biodiversity conservation, climate change regulation, food and livelihoods. The water shortages bedevilling many cities and towns are rooted on disturbances on wetlands.
However, despite the clear importance of wetlands and the availability of laws protecting the environment under section 73 of the Constitution (environmental rights), the Environmental Management Act, environmental impact assessment and ecosystem protection regulations, it appears as if there is little political will to fully protect these fragile ecosystems as government seems powerless to rein in land barons who are parcelling out wetlands with impunity.
One is tempted to think that the government has lost the war against the land barons who include influential individuals and corporate bodies.
For instance, Harare has seen housing developments on wetlands in Belvedere, Budiriro, Waterfalls, Westlea, Borrowdale, Monavale, Harare South and Marimba, among others which government and the city council have turned a blind eye to. With the 2023 elections around the corner, the parcelling out of housing stands on wetlands is likely to escalate. Houses built on wetlands are susceptible to flooding. This explains why Chitungwiza, Budiriro, Southlea Park, Rugare and Tafara have in the past experienced flash floods.
There are also glaring deficiencies in the Ema legislation, which imposes strict controls on the development of wetlands. Most glaring are the small fines payable for regularisation of developments that have taken place without environmental impact assessments and without approval from the Environmental Management Agency. In the end, unscrupulous land developers take advantage to develop properties outside the law knowing that they can afford the small fines.
Possibly, Zimbabweans could take advantage of on-going consultations to amend the Environmental Management Act [Chapter 20:27] to strengthen accountability and sustainability in sectors related to natural resource governance. The Act is outdated and should be aligned to the Constitution. Perhaps, the most serious anomaly lies in the lack of monitoring and enforcement. It seems corruption and fear of political reprisals are forcing the environmental management authorities and law enforcement agents at national and local levels to turn a blind eye to wetland destruction.
In November this year, the world will meet in Egypt to deliberate on climate change at the COP27. Although developed and developing countries are still arguing over who is responsible for the climate crisis, it is undisputed that we all have a role to play in protecting the environment in order to save ourselves from the ravages of climate change. The world is for us all and future generations.
The Holy Scriptures provide wise counsel in Matthew 7:12: Everything that we do, we do for ourselves. Food for thought!
- Cliff Chiduku is a journalist based in Harare. He can be contacted on +263775716517, Email: cchiduku@gmail.com or on Twitter @ChifChiduku.