Litter

It has been almost a year since I last visited the site of Lubangwe Wildlife Sanctuary, with my previous recent visit having been to the village and school. So when Basil invited me to a site inspection I gladly accepted, but what I saw left my heart broken and almost in tears.

Our first stop was the layby just after the 65kilometre peg from Victoria Falls, the first thing I saw was litter all over resembling a dumping site, what came to my mind was the immediate danger this paused for wildlife especially elephants and baboons, which I knew often roamed the area. The litter included cold beverage containers and empty fast-food packaging. What however shocked me the most was a huge pile of used diapers, that left me wondering where these had come from and who had been so careless to dump these by a roadside layby.

Barren Land

As we walked into what I remembered as a thick Mopani woodland, I was shocked to see the bareness of the land, with a few scattered brush only left. Most trees have either been chopped off, or burnt down, with only a few trees and tree stumps left. What surprised me was the proximity to the main highway these activities were taking place, showing the brazen character of the people involved in these illegal activities.

Charcoal Making

Basil quickly pointed to me a heap of soil, ash and charcoal remnants, this was a charcoal furnace, that had been the death bed of many of the surrounding trees. From the remaining tree stumps and dead branches, I saw, I can confirm that almost 95% of the trees used in this horrendous charcoal making process was the Mopani tree, a hardwood tree that takes long to grow, and is common in the area.

Basil told me that. after chopping the trees, the tree poachers would dig a huge hole, where they would pile the logs up to a height of about one metre above the ground, before covering them with sand and clay. They would then fire up the furnace and slowly burn the logs into charcoal in a process that takes 3 to 5 days. One furnace would have over 100 to 300 logs of Mopani trees, and I counted more than 14 disused charcoal furnaces in the small area we toured.

Desertification

The indiscriminate chopping of the trees has left this area almost barren, trees along the river beds and catchment areas have been chopped, there is barely any grass left in the area, raising my fears that with the coming rains, there will be massive soil erosion which will lead to further siltation of the Lubangwe river, its tributaries as well as the Matetsi river downstream. I saw myself standing at the edge of a Death Valley with little hope of a brighter future.

Hope

As we walked in despair, Basil spoke to me about the upcoming tree planting to take place on the 8^th of December and the work at hand. Having secured 1000 indigenous trees from Wild is Life Zimbabwe and Forestry Commission, the rehabilitation of these forests is on course, however a lot is still to be done. The digging of holes to plant the trees is still to be done, a visit to the Village Head Mr. Davis Shakiwa Ncube confirmed that he is in the process of mobilising youths to assist in the pre planting program, which will include digging of the holes and litter picking in the area.

An after care program for the trees is yet to be finalised, with well-wishers being sort to help with fencing for the area were trees are to be planted. Three or four people will also be needed to monitor the trees as they grow, to ensure minimal loss of the new trees. Setting up of a security post is also critical to ensure that no trees are cut further, and charcoal making is effectively stopped in the area.

As part of fund raising towards these activity, Lubangwe Wild Life Sanctuary conducted the 6060 Cycle for Wildlife Challenge on the 8^th of December 2024, from Victoria Falls to Lubangwe in an event attended by a number of villagers and supporters. Today a ray of hope is shining on the Lubangwe habitat.