By KETRA KALUNGA
OVER 60 percent of illegal settlers in forest reserves have been relocated in a bid to reduce deforestation which is one of the main contributors to climate charge, Minister of Green Economy and Environment, Collins Nzovu has said
The minister in October this year gave a three-week ultimatum to all illegal settlers in the forest reserves to vacate or face forced eviction.
Mr. Nzovu said the programme has been successful and force may not be needed to move people from the forest reserves because the persuasion methods being employed by the ministry have proved to be effective.
He said in an interview that the settlers have through sensitisation been enlightened and have admitted that the indiscriminate cutting of trees is one of the factors that has led to the drought being experienced in the country.
“We have achieved about 60 percent and it’s been very successful. The challenge with the 40 percent is the rainy season we are in and obviously we have been a bit lenient but we have continued sensitising them,” Mr. Nzovu said.
He said the locals are not happy with the current deforestation because they have realised that they are losing out a lot and are also attributing the current drought to the loss of forests.
And Mr. Nzovu said the settlers are also being helped with conservation farming and sensitised on the need to regard the trees as important to the fight against climate change whose effects are being felt globally.
He said the ministry has also embarked on promoting carbon trading by encouraging people to keep the forests and plant trees.
Mr. Nzovu said that keeping the forests and planting trees are the mechanisms that the ministry intends to teach Zambians so that they could gain on carbon trading.
“The issue of carbon trading was resolved so by planting more trees by keeping their forests people can earn money from carbon trading aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere,” he said.
