Mopane trees threatened in the Zambezi

DISTRICT forestry officer at Katima Mulilo Dennis Sikabongo said there is a worrisome trend of residents hiring foreigners to harvest mopane trees.

Mopane trees are protected in Namibia.

Sikabongo last week told that residents hire foreigners to harvest the trees illegally in order to sell them, and they do so without taking into account the irreversible damage to the environment.

He said this has become a concern in the Zambezi region, especially in the Katima Mulilo rural constituency.

“Deforestation has many negative effects on the environment. The most dramatic one is the loss of habitat for millions of species. Seventy percent of the earth’s land animals and plants live in forests, and many cannot survive the deforestation that destroys their homes,” he stated.

He further revealed that when trees are lost due to deforestation, the result can be a drier climate and desertification, or the transformation of the once fertile land into a desert.

The problem is that community members are not harvesting dry wood for domestic use as the permits state, but are misbehaving and harvesting live mopani trees, he added.

“The forestry directorate has now suspended issuing permits for harvesting firewood for marketing due to this illegal harvesting of the mopane trees, after they have depleted all the dry wood,” he noted.

Sikabongo said they have not managed to apprehend any culprits because by the time they do patrols, the harvesters would have already left, and they only find heaps of firewood which would have been harvested the previous night.

He thus warned perpetrators to abstain from this disturbing practice which may lead to desertification, robbing the future generation from seeing the wonders of nature.

“We will now have to arrange joint patrols together with law enforcement agencies such as the police and immigration to apprehend these culprits, whether they are locals or foreigners,” he stated.

Sikabongo said the fine for such practices, which is currently N$3 000, must be increased so that culprits pay more for the damage they are causing to nature. The current fine is nothing compared to the length of the time a tree takes to grow.

“The tree growth is almost 60 years, so I am cautioning the public to refrain from harvesting wet mopane trees,” he said. He said community members should be aware that harvesting forestry resources requires permits, but at the moment firewood is no longer allowed to be harvested for marketing purposes, and only for domestic use.

“We need the bushes. The mopane trees are our mother trees, so we need to preserve them. If they are de-bushed without a plan, we are going to experience a serious desert in this region,” he said.

He added that if people want to buy firewood or poles for sale, they can buy them at places like the Sikanjabuka community forest, the Bukalo community forest and the Zilitene community forest.

In an age of information overload, Sunrise is The Namibian’s morning briefing, delivered at 6h00 from Monday to Friday. It offers a curated rundown of the most important stories from the past 24 hours – occasionally with a light, witty touch. It’s an essential way to stay informed. Subscribe and join our newsletter community.