Manicaland Bureau

THE Forestry Commission has partnered police in Manicaland to curb illegal tree cutting, which has resulted in massive deforestation in areas such as Vumba and Christmas Pass.

Despite the much improved supply of electricity during the Covid-19 lockdown period by the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority, there continues to be demand for firewood as families say they cannot afford electricity as the only source of energy.

Forestry Commission provincial manager Mr Phillip Tom expressed concern over rampant firewood poaching, which is threatening the environment.

“We are worried about those people who are cutting down trees in the Christmas Pass and Vumba,” he said. “These people are coming from all over Mutare and they work during the night and very early in the morning. Our agents who are supposed to be enforcing the legislation that prohibits the cutting down of trees appear to be overwhelmed, so we have partnered with the Zimbabwe Republic Police and the Mutare Municipal Police to carry out a blitz in those areas.”

Mr Tom said those who wished to acquire firewood for domestic purposes could apply for permits from the Commission.

“We urge people to desist from these activities that are putting our environment in  jeopardy because the law will eventually catch up with them,” he said.

“Those who want alternative sources of energy should come to Forestry Commission to get permits to move the firewood so that they can transport it legally.”

Zimbabwe has in the past decade recorded alarming rates of deforestation, which has negatively impacted on efforts to mitigate dangerous carbon emissions that are contributing to climate change.

The country has set a target to increase forest cover to 46 percent from the current 36 percent by 2030.