EnviroLine

I would say that as a country, we are very good at
policy formulation but we mostly struggle at implementation
level. My desire is to see policy implementation
being taken to a high level. We have what
it takes to develop while protecting our natural resources.
All we need is to work towards one goal.
Working in isolation especially in the environmental
sector does not help because there are no known
boundaries when it comes to the environment—one
thing is connected to another.
4. Climate change has emerged as the
greatest development challenge at all
levels. In your view, do you think it has
overshadowed other equally important
areas that need attention in terms of environmental
conservation? If so, highlight
some of the issues which you feel are being
neglected?
There is no doubt that climate change is the greatest
environmental threat of our time. It has a direct
threat to the achievement of Sustainable Development
Goal (SDG) on ending hunger and achieving
food security, and several other SDGs considering
that environment is the foundation for development.
I wouldn’t point to a particular issue being neglected.
All we need to do as a country is to pull our
resources together and work as team towards environmental
protection.
The challenge that Zambia faces in protecting her
biodiversity is far from an insufficiency of policy direction.
The country has seen a surge of sound environmental
policies the past decade and yet it keeps
losing natural resources at an alarming rate. Reason
is simple - information is not shared with the grassroots.
Secondly, indigenous knowledge is not yet fully utilized
in the development process of managing our
natural resources. Indigenous knowledge systems
are at risk of becoming extinct because of rapidly
changing natural environments and fast paced economic,
political, and cultural changes on a global
scale. It is worth noting that we have a lot of indigenous
knowledge systems that are still useful and
need to be preserved for the next generation’s survival.
5. Could you share with us some of the
projects/programmes that you are implementing
to tackle the identified issues?
And how involved is the country’s overall
environmental regulator, the Zambia Environmental
Management Agency (ZEMA)
in all these activities?
Well, we are consistently involved in the production
of the Chongololo Club of the Air radio programme
for environmental education especially for young
people. In the recent past however, we are involved
in various programmes and projects on environmental
conservation, either directly implemented by ourselves
and/or our partners. For example, we have
been implementing a Conservation and Forest Management
project in the Mafinga Hills, aimed at conserving
Afromontane biodiversity while improving
the welfare of local people. Through support from
the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF), we
have been training local communities on how to raise
nurseries which are later planted along degraded riparian
zones of the Luangwa river headwaters.
As an environmental action group, WECSZ seeks
to work with communities in all areas around the
country. However, this cannot be done without the
involvement of the country’s overall environmental
regulator—the Zambia Environmental Management
Agency (ZEMA). As WECSZ, we have a very good
working relationship with ZEMA both at consultative
as well as at implementation levels to ensure our
efforts are not at variance with the law regarding
natural resources usage and protection.
6. What is your general message with
regards to environmental management in
Zambia?
Environmental conservation belongs to children, let’s
nurture them for the task now and the future; I am
a living example. Just as others did to me, I am also
mentoring some young people and my desire is to
see them succeed and carry the mantle of environmental
and wildlife conservation as I have done and
continue to do. My plea is that every institution especially
those connected to environmental conservation
should take a deliberate approach to nurture
young people in everything they do, otherwise, the
concept of sustainable development would be meaningless
without children.
And to policy makers, my desire is to see environmental
management systems and frameworks that
give chance to everyone regardless of status, to take
part in, as opposed to waiting for government alone.
A simple message to the young people being mentored
for environmental protection is a principle I
have lived by over the years that, “It costs nothing
to be humble!”
Enviroline |Page 29