By THANDIWE MOYO –
Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA) has called on communities to help the agency in its efforts to stop the damage being caused by illegal trade in timber and indiscriminate charcoal burning.
ZEMA principal information communication officer Ireen Chipili, said members of the communities should help ZEMA enforce the law by protecting timber.
“As regulatory authorities, we may not manage to be present everywhere, therefore we urge the communities to care for their trees as they are very beneficial to local communities and the nation at large,” she said.
She said people engaged into illegal charcoal burning and had no regard for the environmental hazards they were causing by their activities and many involved in timber trade did not have licences provided by the forestry department.
Ms Chipili said trees provided shade and shelter for animals and that it was disheartening that illegal traders continued with their business without thinking about the impact of cutting down trees.
She said trees also provided food to indigenous people and also played a role in the rainfall patterns.
Ms Chipili said while it may not be practical to stop all Zambians from using charcoal, it was imperative to encourage as many people as possible to use other energy serving alternatives such as solar.
She said indiscriminate cutting of trees had an impact on the country’s economy and that it was important to serve certain species of trees for references and history among learners.