NATURAL RESOURCES DEGRADATION IN ZIMBABWE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 HARARE 000423

SIPDIS

DCHA/OFDA FOR PRATT, KHANDAGLE, MENGHETTI, MARX
AFR/SA FOR FLEURET, LOKEN, COPSON, MACNAIRN,
HIRSCH
EGAT FOR HOBGOOD, THOMPSON, HESS, MCGAHUEY,
GILL, RUSHIN-BELL, HURDUS
STATE/AF FOR NEULING, MOZENA
GABORONE FOR CASHION, BROWN, ST.CYR, KLINE
LILONGWE FOR RUBEY
LUSAKA FOR GUNTHER, GRIFFITHS
MAPUTO FOR POLAND, BLISS, THOMPSON
MASERU FOR AMB LOFTIS
MBABANE FOR KENNA
NAIROBI FOR BROWN, NDIRANGO, PUTNAM,
KNAUSENBERGER
PRETORIA FOR DISKIN, HALE, SINK, REYNOLDS
ROME FOR FODAG FOR GAST

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID PREL US ZI
SUBJECT: NATURAL RESOURCES DEGRADATION IN ZIMBABWE

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SUMMARY
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1. The degradation of Zimbabwe's natural resources is
continuing at an alarming rate. Environmental and natural
resource issues have taken a backseat to more pressing
concerns. Confronted with insecure land tenure, food
insecurity and rising poverty, there are few incentives for
Zimbabweans to conserve natural resources or to invest in
environmentally sustainable livelihood activities. The
scarcity of up-to-date information on the state of the
country's natural resources makes it difficult to assess
the cumulative effects of the complex humanitarian crisis
on the environment. This situation is all the more
disturbing given Zimbabwe's past status as a leader in
community-based natural resource management.


2. USAID/Zimbabwe brought together a number of
practitioners, donors and NGOs to promote dialogue on these
issues. In the past, USAID/Zimbabwe served as the lead
donor in natural resources and participants welcomed the
resumption and coordination of information-sharing in this
sector. This cable outlines the issues discussed and
debated at the natural resources forum. End Summary.

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BACKGROUND
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3. Zimbabweans have expanded their consumption of natural
resources to obtain food and cash for their survival.
Strategies involve wood-cutting, thatch harvesting,
collection of wild fruits and nuts, fishing, wildlife
poaching, and gold mining. All of these could be viable
livelihood approaches if carried out in a sustainable
fashion, but today in Zimbabwe there are few checks and
balances or incentives to harvest or manage sustainably.


4. For most of the past five years, the government and
donors have been pre-occupied with issues such as the
country's political stalemate or responding to the
humanitarian crisis. Accordingly, little attention has
been paid to the state of the country's natural resources.
To facilitate a better understanding of the situation on
the ground, USAID/Zimbabwe sponsored a half-day natural
resources forum in February attended by donors (DFID, CIDA,
EC, CIRAD),the UN (Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO),the UN Humanitarian Support Team),and NGOs (African
Wildlife Foundation (AWF),World Wildlife Fund (WWF),
International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN),
World Conservation Union, CESVI, Africa Center for Holistic
Resources Management, Center for Applied Social Sciences
(CASS),Zimbabwe Environmental Lawyers Association (ZELA),
Institute for Environmental Studies, Parks and Wildlife
Management Authority, University of Zimbabwe, CAMPFIRE
Association). The purpose of the meeting was to open
dialogue and share information on the status of key natural
resources in Zimbabwe, on natural resources management
(NRM) activities and on the current policy environment.

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INSECURITY OF LAND TENURE
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5. Land tenure is not usually discussed openly outside
the donor community in Zimbabwe due to political
sensitivities -- although wide scale insecurity of tenure
is a critical issue that negatively impacts on agricultural
productivity and incentives to use natural resources
sustainably. The fast-track land reform process
contributed to insecurity of land tenure for thousands of
people. Of the country's approximately 4 500 white
commercial farmers, all but about 300 have been evicted,
and thousands of ex-commercial farmworkers displaced from
farms are now jobless and homeless, with large numbers
camped out in remote corners of the country on "state"
land. (Note: USAID supports internally displaced persons
(IDPs) with food and non-food items through OFDA funding to
the International Office of Migration (IOM) End note.)


6. Land tenure insecurity also affects the resettled
farmers. The new "A2" farmers who were resettled on former
commercial farms acquired under the fast-track land reform
program have no secure ownership rights to their plots,
although some have "offer letters" that were provided to
them when they were invited by the GOZ to resettle. The
GOZ "Letters of Offer" do not provide acceptable collateral
for loans.

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CURRENT STATUS OF KEY NATURAL RESOURCES
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7. Soils: participants in the USAID-sponsored forum
stressed the potential for "conservation agriculture" to
curb erosion, maintain soil fertility, and improve the
health of water catchments. The productivity of Zimbabwean
agriculture has declined sharply in recent years. In
addition to the oft-mentioned disruption caused by the
GOZ's fast-track land reform program, this is largely due
to the lack of secure tenure and the overall environment of
economic insecurity. Soils are being mined of their
nutrients, and are not being supplemented with enough
fertilizers, mulch or manure, or protected by appropriate
tillage practices. However, a natural soil regeneration
process has begun on large areas of those former commercial
farms that lie fallow.


8. Livestock: Levels of livestock in the country have
sharply decreased due to diseases, missing fences, and
human consumption. Neighboring countries are alarmed at
the risk of the spread of livestock diseases, and the
consequent threat to livestock, wildlife and humans. The
Zimbabwe Veterinary Department has lost many of its
qualified staff and does not have the resources to obtain
sufficient drugs and vaccines. FAO expects to vaccinate 1
million livestock against Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in
the coming months. Botswana has erected a 500-km four-
meter high electrified fence along its border with
Zimbabwe, ostensibly to control the spread of foot-and-
mouth disease (FMD) (Note: this fence will likely have
adverse consequences for wildlife migration patterns. End
note.)


9. Wildlife: Despite the earlier, notable success of the
USAID-funded CAMPFIRE program, through which rural
residents benefited from and conserved their wild
resources, Zimbabwe's wildlife is now under threat. Hungry
rural residents are trapping meat for consumption, and
others are exploiting the international hunting scene.
Wildlife surveys traditionally carried out in Zimbabwe each
year, previously with USAID support, have lapsed during the
current crisis. The result is that levels of wildlife, and
thus, the sustainability of the current off-take are not
known.


10. Water: Forum participants raised numerous concerns
about water resources in Zimbabwe. Almost half of the
country's rural boreholes (water points) are in disrepair,
and city water systems are compromised. The Zimbabwe
National Water Authority (ZINWA) data base is not
functional at present. Surface water supplies generally
remain depleted from the drought 2 years ago, which means
increased reliance on already overused boreholes for
watering livestock, agriculture and human consumption.
According to the IUCN Regional Office for Southern Africa
(ROSA),watershed catchments are being degraded in some
areas due to encroachment by new settlers and unsustainable
agricultural practices. Overall water quality is also
deteriorating.


11. Forests: The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
reported on the Global Forestry Assessment for 2005 that is
meant to monitor long-term forest change, changes in
ownership of forests and other wooded land, and changes in
characteristics such as growing stock, biomass, carbon,
diversity, disturbances, wood and non-wood removal. For
Zimbabwe, the report is based on often out-of-date field
data, and no data at all is available for many of the
required tables. FAO's report highlighted the need for
updating figures and for adapting the management of
Zimbabwe's natural forests to accommodate the current
social and economic changes.

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TOURISM
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12. Tourism has suffered heavily as Zimbabwe's
international image has worsened. Five star hotels and
community-based enterprises alike are operating at a small
fraction of their capacity, or have closed altogether.
There has been no comprehensive investigation of the
current status of tourism establishments. The GOZ has
predicted an influx of Chinese tourists, particularly now
that the country has a new direct flight to Beijing, but
most analysts hold out scant hope that this could replace
lost tourism from South Africa and Europe, or that it would
provide the same level of spending per tourist. According
to the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority, even factoring in the
increase in tourists from Asia, tourism arrivals to
Zimbabwe declined a further 29% in the 3rd quarter of 2004,
from a previous decline of 33% over the same period in

2003. Big game hunting by expatriate clients is one form
of tourism that continues despite Zimbabwe's image problem;
rumors of unorthodox "safari" operators abound.

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POLICY
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13. Land policy in Zimbabwe remains problematic from a
variety of perspectives. The GOZ's proposed new policies
would convert wildlife conservancies into state land with
25-year leases. The GOZ's resettlement policy has
neglected wildlife production as a legitimate land use
option. Virtually all resettlement has been based on use of
land for agriculture, despite the fact that in many regions
of Zimbabwe poor rainfall and other agro-ecological
conditions severely constrain agricultural production.
Alternative land uses based on the sustainable use of
wildlife have proven to be productive and profitable in the
past in Zimbabwe. The GOZ is reportedly developing a draft
Wildlife-Based Land Reform Policy, but it has not been
released and is apparently stalled in draft form.

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ON-GOING NRM ACTIVITIES
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14. Most donors are concentrating their efforts on
addressing the country's poor governance and the immediate
humanitarian situation. Donors provide minimal support to
natural resources management, other than short-term
"protracted relief" programs that promote expansion of
conservation farming techniques on communal lands. A few
on-going NRM activities are tied to transboundary regional
projects in 1) the Four Corners region where Zimbabwe,
Zambia, Namibia and Botswana come together, and 2) in the
South East lowveld area working with communities
potentially involved in the Great Limpopo Transfrontier
Park. USAID support to the CAMPFIRE program ended in
September 2003 and the Mission has not supported any
natural resources or environmental activities since that
time.

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CONCLUSIONS
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15. The forum's major conclusion were:

- A forum to discuss natural resources issues has been
sorely lacking in Zimbabwe. Donor and NGOs expressed
interest in continuing to meet periodically to share
information.

- Soil fertility loss, deforestation, watershed damage,
wildlife poaching, human settlement in protected areas and
land tenure insecurity will continue for the foreseeable
future, with negative impacts on Zimbabwe's natural
resources. It is unlikely that significant investment in
sustainable farming, natural resources-based livelihood
practices or improved wildlife management will occur in the
near term.

- There is no domestic "voice" or advocacy for natural
resources issues at present, unlike agriculture which is
represented by several farmers' unions. NGOs who
appreciate the extent of the damage being done and who
would normally advocate for action are forced to remain
silent in the current repressive atmosphere, lest they
raise political ire.

- Greater land tenure security will be key to improving
both agricultural productivity and sustainable natural
resources management.

- As long as Zimbabwe's governance issues continue to
relegate the country to international isolation, its
previously well-managed natural resources will continue to
deteriorate, escalating the cost of rebuilding its systems
and regenerating its heritage.
SCHULTZ