IN our country, and in certain communities we have realised that some patches of land need ‘‘healing’’ in terms of replacing the trees which were destroyed either by us; human beings due to over-harvesting of this natural resource or clearance of land for cropping but later on abandoned after realising non-productivity, or we have one way or another in our communities exposed some of the few patches of land which had indigenous trees growing to being casualties of fire.

It’s good that we have also identified some of the patches of land which have never grown trees, knowing that such patches are vulnerable to soil erosion which   results in land degradation and siltation of dams hence we have decided to have afforestation programmes. Reafforestation; a mitigation strategy, that is, planting of trees to replace trees or forests which previously existed but due to human intervention, and other natural disasters is more popular since most of the land in our rural communities had indigenous trees growing but are now clear.

Indigenous trees play a vital role as wildlife habitats, and as a natural resource to human beings as we directly or indirectly benefit from different indigenous trees at our disposal, for example, planted as part of agroforestry, leaves, fruits or pods used as part of human or  livestock food, making furniture, poles for construction and for medicinal purposes.

It is a noble idea that reafforestation, and afforestation activities are done during the first rainy period, and as a national event, that is, National Tree Planting Day which is officially carried out every first Saturday of December of each year in Zimbabwe. Tree seedlings planting during this period has advantages considering the favourable weather — the tree seedlings will be rain-fed, and it will be cooler and supportive to other important physiological processes during the establishment of the tree seedling.

While this event is considered important and has been done yearly for the past decades, the big question is:  are the events conducted in line with current researches and experiences. For example, is planting an indigenous tree seedling individually in a well-prepared planting station still viable? Globally a number of researches are conducted, and some of the researches involve findings on the establishment and growth of tree seedlings. Some of these research findings, and recommendations are valuable for the success of such national events which are meant to improve our environment. A good example of such findings is the idea of what are called “Pocket Forests”. “Pocket Forest” it’s the planting of different tree seedlings species close to each other in a spot, so that the roots of the plants benefit from different microbes found in different tree species.

Although the idea of “Pocket Forests” might be considered to be a research finding, our general assessment of trees growing in the wild has shown that these trees grow very well when they are close to each other. In most of our tree planting activities tend to “artificialise” the establishment and growing of indigenous trees by having our own “distance of planting” therefore denying some of their own root microbial activity sharing ability which make them survive better during their growth. While some trees are considered to be allelopathic, that is, they produce some chemicals through their roots which deny other tree species a chance to grow around them, for example Silver Terminalia — Umangwe/Umsusu — such trees will be considered not ideal for the “Pocket Foresting” programme.

A renowned biologist, and founder of two wildlife conservation projects, Painted Dog Conservation in Dete and Painted Dog Research Trust Ecology Centre in Sizinda near Victoria Falls, Dr Gregory Rasmussen said, “Globally the idea of Pocket Forest has not yet gained ground while it is a good research finding, other countries overseas have adopted it in their reafforestation and afforestation programmes and it has given them the best results. I have started raising tree seedlings in the Sizinda project so that I start promoting it”. Having realised the benefits of “Pocket Forests”, Dr Rasmussen has engaged other stakeholders for example the local Fuller Forestry Commission staff, schools and the local leadership to cross pollinate ideas on how the concept of “Forest Pockets” can gradually be spread and adopted at community level.

For the past decades,  a number of   reafforestation and afforestation programmes have been undertaken, and several factors like  the correct time of planting, best  soil for planting or the correct stage of planting the seedlings have been taken into consideration for the success of the programmes — it is unfortunate that despite fulfilling the other tree seedlings survival requirements, the high temperatures and  erratic rains received due to climate change have also contributed to the failure of some tree seedlings.

In most communities, certain indigenous tree species are fast disappearing or have disappeared because of their high medicinal demand, popular use in construction or furniture use because of their texture and other related preferred characteristics. If possible, a survey of indigenous tree species which used to grow in such communities where the re-afforestation and afforestation program is to be carried out   is also vital.  Such species must be prioritised in the tree planting program as they will easily adapt to the environment.

Survival of  indigenous tree seedlings planted on a re afforestation or afforestation programmes have some ecological, social and economic benefits in the end, hence there is a need to keep updated with the latest development of the global tree researches which in most cases have yielded better results!

* Mahlabezulu Zulu is a conservationist who has worked for various wildlife research, and conservation organisations in Hwange National Park, and Fuller Forestry in Victoria Falls. He can be contacted on 00263(0)713269827/0776196171. Email [email protected] or   [email protected]