Deforestation in Zambia

Ruth Mwale in AllAfrica.com via the Times (Zambia): …The depletion of the country's vegetation has in the recent past been on the increase and a hidden contributing factors not only responsible for climate change effects, but also detrimental to strides for the country's economic prosperity.

….Uncontrollable deforestation results into environmental degradation such as abnormal weather patterns and loss of water. The rampant loss of forestry now starring in all provinces is without doubt a serious threat to the economic development.

Climate Change communication officer Matthews Kalabo said climate change is one of the major challenges which is being faced not only by Zambia but also the world at large…."The natural disasters that have continued to hit most parts of the country due to global warming include droughts and floods, which continue to affect the socio-economic development of the country," Mr Kalabo said.

…"The use of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) to transfer highly efficient, durable and clean technology delivers a wide range of benefits to the local community whilst improving living conditions," he said. Mr Kalabo said through this project, deforestation can be reversed and income streams shifted from the present production of charcoal towards sustainable forest development.

"Zambia suffers deforestation, which to some extent caused by the production and consumption of charcoal. Every year, more than 250,000 hectares of the forest is disappearing," he said. He urged the Government to stiffen the Forestry Policy, to ensure its implementation in working towards reducing the emissions of gases, as well as the discriminate depletion of trees and vegetation….

A Zambian landscape, shot by Florence Devouard, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported