Copperbelt Permanent Secretary Elias Kamanga says the country has continued to experience environment challenges that poses a danger to the survival of wild life.
And Acting Manager Northern Region at Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA ) Maxwell Chibanga said the Agency requires strong partnerships with all stakeholders in to effectively meet its mandate as a regulatory agency.
Speaking at the commemoration of the world environment at Kitwe’s show grounds on Monday, Mr kamanga says since most households especially in rural areas depend on game meat it has resulted in a number of environmental challenges such as habitat destruction.
“Most of our rural households and friends depend on local wild animals for their meat protein and trees for fuel and both wild animals provide component of traditional medicines used by the majority if people in the world thus the world continues to face a number of environmental challenges including habitat destruction forest degradation , illegal wild life trade and impacts from human activities such as agriculture expansion and industrialization” he said.
ZANIS reports that the Permanent Secretary said over exploiting of animals from the game parks has affected the growth of certain animals and species such as fish which has caused imbalance in the marine system.
He said deforestation has also increased over the years which can lead to the reduction of biodiversity.
“Forest reserves in Zambia continues to play a vital role in traditional medicine ,wood fuel ,food building materials and also play major roles in carbon and hydrological cycles forests are also key factors in water shade and soil conservation, this resource is under pressure as a result of various factors leading to a relatively high deforestation” he said.
Acting ZEMA Manager for Northern Region Mr Kamanga said government has established a number of legal and institutional frame works that will offer guidance to the building of environmental management as utilization of natural resources has become the cornerstone of the country’s economic development.
Mr Chibanga said ZEMA is committed to supplementing traditional strategies by providing appropriate forms of assistance to those it regulates and its stakeholders which comprises a board range of organizations , institutions , agencies , all levels of government , academia, business enterprises and the general citizens.
He said the collaboration exhibited in the commemoration of world environmental day demonstrates commitment from many stakeholders towards protecting the environment .
“To meet ZEMA’s mandate it needs developing and enforcing measures aimed at preventing and controlling pollution, developing standards and guidelines relating to the protection of environment and natural resources, conducting environmental assessment among them environmental impact assessment and integrated environmental impact assessment and reporting and mainstreaming environmental concerns in overall national planning, ” he said.
Are you aware of KCM pollution…..ba PS