By CHRISTETER MACHA CHIZHYUKA –
Forests are under severe threat world over.
The loss of forests to agriculture and fuel, among other things, can be blamed for destabilizing natural environmental systems and this loss continues to grow every year.
As a result, the scenario where thousands of trees are cut on a daily basis calls for a stop to the vice as environmental campaigns urge people to start tree planting.
The call to plant trees is seen as a simple and effective way to help reduce the impact of carbon emissions and restore natural ecosystems.
The most determined case is the one trillion trees campaign launched by the World Economic
Forum in Davos in January, 2020, in support of the Decade of Ecosystem Restoration by the United Nations (UN).
The campaign aims to restore, protect, or ensure that by 2030, one trillion trees are planted.
Such solutions, like growing trees and protecting coastlines by restoring mangroves, are said to be key to averting climate disasters.
In Zambia, the Government, in responding to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of ensuring poverty reduction while at the same time tackling climate change, created a new ministry responsible for green economy and the environment.
The man at the helm of this new Green Economy and Environment ministry, Collins Nzovu, has a passion for the environment and understands that a green economy is the best way to go as it aims at reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities while forging towards sustainable development without degrading the environment.
Mr Nzovu is leading by example at his farms, lodges and residences which are all covered by green surroundings.
“I make sure I plant at least 60 trees per year on my farms. When you come to my house, there are trees everywhere,” Mr Nzovu said.
During a tree planting exercise by Alliance for World Change in Lusaka last year, and speaking when he presented the weather focused for 2021/2022 rainy season, Minister Nzovu underscored the need for Zambians to continued planting trees and restock areas with reduced forest cover.
“I am glad to inform the House that, this afternoon, I was planting trees in Kanyama. This is a very important exercise and I invite all members (of Parliament) to join us to ensure that trees are planted. Remember, science says that trees give us oxygen and remove carbon dioxide.
Therefore, they are a very important element in the climate change chain,” he told Parliament.
Mr Nzovu further said one of the best ways to encourage people to plant trees is to raise awareness on the negative consequences of climate change.
The Green Economy and Environment minister is not alone is the tree planting crusade.
Companies, such as Green Cycle Limited, have come up with technologies to produce briquettes which are 100 per cent environmentally friendly.
The briquettes are biodegradable and arranged in eco-friendly packaging to help alleviate the heavy dependence on charcoal, which depletes forests.
In this industrial advancement in the production of briquettes, Green Cycle Limited, in its quest to find answers to end or reduce deforestation, embarked on manufacturing this alternative product to charcoal back in 2007.
Company founder Nasri Safieddine commercially pioneered briquettes as an alternative solid fuel to lumpwood charcoal.
The briquettes project is an effort to counter alarmingly high deforestation and forest degradation which are major problems in Zambia.
The product has potential to provide relief for Zambia’s besieged forests.
Green Cycle Limited, whose briquettes are branded Pyro Briquettes, went flat out during inception to sensitise and encourage the usage of briquettes for domestic and industrial applications to counter deforestation.
In an interview at the company premises in Lusaka recently, Green Cycle Limited Director Abbas Saffieddine said for 10 years, the company has produced briquettes as an alternative to charcoal.
Mr Saffieddine said in 2020, 373 tonnes of charcoal was spared through the use of briquettes produced by the company.
“We need to build on the current heating alternative technology and take it closer to the people
so that we save the forests. As a result, in 2021, we displaced 573 tonness of charcoal, which translates into 2,865 tonnes of trimmed wood before charcoal burning,” Mr Saffiedine said.
He commended the creation of the Green Economy and Environment ministry which he said is important key in ensuring that clean or renewable energy is embraced as a vehicle for growth and innovation within industries.
With successes recorded in the production and usage of the pyro briquettes as an alternative to charcoal, especially in poultry farms and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), Mr Safieddine said his company has further added another initiative to help restore forests in the country.
“Apart from making briquettes using waste products, we have embarked on planting trees in Chikakanta district. We believe as a company that we need to take a serious stance towards mitigating the effects of climate change and protect the land,” he said.
According to JUST ONE Tree, a non-profit initiative removing CO2 from the atmosphere and reversing biodiversity loss through global reforestation, Zambia has the second highest rate of deforestation in Africa.
The United Kingdom (UK) based organization said 50 years ago, 80 per cent of the Zambia was covered in forest.
But now, it is estimated that at the current rate of deforestation, Zambia’s trees could be gone by 2030.
It is for this reason that Green Cycle has stepped up its tree planting efforts in Chikankata district off the Chirundu Road besides producing briquettes.
Mr Saffieddine said the company started planting trees in 2019 and has so far planted about 600 mahogany species in organized lines.
He said the advantage with this species is its resilience.
“We normally do the planting during the rainy season, and this rainy season 2021/2022, we started early in November as we also had to replant where trees died due to the heat. We had to add new small ones,” he said.
Besides the 600 mahogany species planted in Chikankata area, Green Cycle embarked on a micro forest experimental initiative which originated from Japan called ‘The Miyawaki Method for Creating Forests.’
Mr Saffieddine said the Miyawaki method of afforestation, named after the Japanese botanist and plant ecologist Akira Miyawaki, has the capacity to grow a variety of native species in little spaces like backyards.
“We have started experimenting the Miyawaki method on a 20 by 20 square metre space within Chikankata alongside the Mahogany species plantation. The other micro forest experimental project is in the Water Falls area east of Lusaka where we have also planted a mixture of trees,” he said.
Mr Saffieddine noted that the method is effective because trees grow much faster, jump starting the forest creation process and capturing more carbon.
The Green Cycle Limited director said so far, the Water Falls area experimental project is doing very well.
He said the company is in the process of partnering with institutions and individuals involved in ingenious tree planting to expand the project as the method is based on indigenous seedlings.
Mr Saffieddine said he wished to see Zambian students and botanists embracing the tree planting method for their studies and for growing back the country’s forests.
The Miyawaki method, which is now being increasingly adopted in other parts of the world, is one of the most effective tree planting methods for creating forest cover quickly on degraded land that has been used for other purposes such as agriculture, construction and even charcoal production as the case in Zambia.
Its essential principle is using tree species that would occur naturally in an area and that works to
to create a diverse, multilayered forest community, which is why Green Cycle Limited wants to identify indigenous seedlings to plant.
Governments, NGOs, schools and individuals world over have realized the importance of planting trees with campaigns getting louder each day.
This is in a bid to ensure that earth gets back its natural beauty and usefulness while tackling climate change.-ZANIS.