BIODIVERSITY LOSS IN ZAMBIAby Bwalya Bwalya | 02-03-2018 06:35 |
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 Biodiversity loss is one of the huge environmental problems faced in Zambia. There exists the challenge of illegal wildlife poarching as well as trade. This is because the majority of people especially those living in rural areas are very poor and unemployed. This therefore moves them to look for easier means of income generation. Laws about poarching are not very strict and punishment for law breakers is not stiff enough so people do not fear to be found wanting. With the come of the rains, our electricity generation company : ZESCO, often cuts electricity supply when rains are heavy and also just in order to save energy at times. This makes people to cut down trees in order to have energy needed for domestic purposes. Excess trees are sold out as charcoal and also as timber to furniture companies. The act of cutting down of trees minus replacement is a huge problem as it not only displaces so many animals and insects that live in trees, reduces the availability of trees that can be used for medicinal purposes but also makes areas less fertile as trees help store nutrients on the earth. Amongst the resources Zambia is blessed with is an abundant water supply that is from rivers, lakes as well as wetlands. However, the biodiversity in these water bodies face threats such as pollution, poor fishing methods, overfishing but to mention afew. People who are the closest to nature in terms of food security, medicinal products or protection from natural hazards are the ones that suffer the most because of biodiversity loss. And most of the time such people are the poorest and these do not have people to stand up for them. I personally feel many people destroy the environment out of ignorance. They do not understand how certain habits they have affect ecosystems. Environmental programmes as well as adverts must be produced so as to educate people about environmental issues, their effects and what each of us can do in order to conserve our resources. With knowledge comes responsibility. Our ecosystems are changing at a very high rate and we cannot afford to just sit back, relax and assume everything will be alright. We as youths need to be the change we wish to see in our communities. |
