According to information provided by MongoBay, in the decade leading to the year 2000, the country Zimbabwe was losing an average of 312,900 hectares of forest per year at an annual deforestation rate of 1.41%. It is upon the backdrop of very high deforestation rates versus low replenishment rates for forest resources that the country is on a forecasted course of becoming a desert in the next 25 years.

Every year during the first Saturday of December, the country commemorates the National Tree Planting day. The National Tree Planting day was set aside and has been commemorated since 1980. But here is one problem in my view, national tree planting day has simply become a commemoration but with too little activity on the tree planting side. Recently on my five-day serene visit to our rural farm to escape the carbon-laced air and noisy atmosphere of the town, I went down a reflection road with my family elders in a heated up debate regarding deforestation and the overall responsibility to combat it.

Deforestation in Zimbabwe is driven by mainly the tobacco farming enterprise as a heat source during the flue-curing process of the golden leaf. The responsibility to keep tobacco farmers in check according to the family elders was a duty outside their socioeconomic jurisdiction, our family being one that has its very own strict self-set preservations when it comes to farming tobacco on top of religious maintenances.  I took them down memory lane to a time in the decade leading to 2000 when there were jungles surrounding our farms and one would be scared to walk far into the thicket alone. In comparison to the current forest barrenness status coupled with the question of when last the environmental authorities were in the area to enforce and upkeep environmental law, they got to appreciate the possibility of having a desert in the near future.

What must be done, they asked. As an educator on environmental matters I felt elevated having been given the chance to speak my mind to my elders on an issue that matters to me. I must say at the end of giving my opinion, I had reminded my grandmother of being in school again and my opinion bore fruit. My opinion and idea was simple. I explained to them:

We cannot rely on formalities anymore to make things right. It is our collective duty to bring forth the change that we want to see. Every day for one who is conscious of their health and the threats coming our way because of the ever-increasing sun temperatures should strive to make better the environment. People in towns smell and breathe fumes of the industries and cars, the countryside is immune to the diseases caused by such as there are no polluting industries or many cars spitting out carbon. Tobacco farming is detrimental to our environment and a serious threat to forests. But when the problems that come about as a result of this forestry loss, it affects the community as a whole regardless of whether some members produce tobacco or not. The ideals of planting trees therefore should go beyond a commemorative event. The commemoration is a mere formality, and if I were a president or held the ministerial post relevant to climate change and wildlife resources management, every day of the year would be a tree planting day because every day is a tree cutting day for someone. That way the serene and health of the countryside and the ecosystem services such as temperature control among others which urban dwellers enjoy at very high costs will continue to be free.

The exchange and lecture went on for close to an hour or more (I would not know the exact time, all electronics were off for the five days) until my uncle in what seemed like a surrender took a pick and we headed into one our livestock paddocks that is under vegetative rejuvenation to drop seeds of the Mopane tree.