By MWIINGA MUKUWA –
Acting Mansa District Commissioner Evans Sikabubba is concerned with the rate at which deforestation is affecting wildlife and human communities.
Mr Sikabuba said the vice had continued to influence climate change which in turn affects development.
He said this at Mutende Basic school when he launched the United 4 Climate tree planting ground breaking ceremony in Mansa.
“This   is  why  we must  take up the role of conserving our trees seriously, deforestation brings serious consequences to the environment such as desertification, loss of habitat for biodiversity and accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere resulting into climate change, “he said.
Mr Sikabuba said government has initiated various programmes to promote the use of sustainable energy and conservation of the  environment.
He said the ceremony marked government’s commitment of planting 30,000 trees countrywide by Climate Ambassadors.
Wildlife and Environmental Conservation Zambia Environmental Education Officer, Peter Chisanga said the Unite 4 Climate was developed under the backdrop of having women and children who are most vulnerable when
it comes to issues pertaining to climate change.
Mr Chisanga said the United 4 Climate Change programme has trained about 1,325 children as climate change Ambassadors in all the 10 provinces of Zambia.
He said the trained ambassadors would develop action plans that they were supposed to implement as this programme was child led.
“Every idea is supposed to come from children because they are the implementers of this activity.
“Since the programme was developed in 2010, we have had eight conferences on climate change centred on children which were aimed at training them as  designated climate change ambassadors,”  Mr Chisanga said.
He said the target is to plant 30,000  trees countrywide and establish 40 nurseries in all the ten provinces of Zambia.
Meanwhile, Climate Change Ambassador, Godfrey Mumbi, a Mansa Secondary School pupil said from 1990 todate, Zambia has lost about 10,672 hectares of trees.
He said about 13.7  per cent of  the trees which are composed of different species have been lost due to ignorance. – NAIS