Zimbabwe: Natural Capital Audit Critical for NDS1 Goals

Zimbabwe needs to take bold steps to audit the economic worth and monetary value of the country's natural resources to promote sustainable development in line with the National Development Strategy (NDS1) goals, a senior Government official says.

Secretary for Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Munesu Munodawafa told participants at a workshop to develop a Middle Zambezi Landscape Conservation Strategy that undervaluing of the country's natural capital and ecological services made it difficult for this sector to get budgetary support from the Government and even international partners.

"We are rich in terms of biodiversity. There is a lot in what we have in terms of our biodiversity and ecological services," he said.

"We keep bragging about biodiversity and yet we can't put value to it. Our Government and international partners find it difficult to offer us support. When we don't have the numbers or depend on thumb-sucking, we will not get the budgetary support let alone financing from our international partners"

Most countries only measure population and economic growth without much attention being paid to the natural environment.

However, Zimbabwe is to reach another milestone in strengthening its production of environmental statistics after a National Biodiversity Economy study was commissioned last September.

This will help to gather data and information about the country's biodiversity and map strategies on how best it could be harnessed for long term economic growth and the attainment of Vision 2030.

The drive to account for its natural resources will help the country to manage its natural resources and ecosystems, know how much of a particular resource it has and how quickly it is being used up or renewed.

"Zimbabwe will be one of the first few African countries in Africa to do national capital accounting and I'm looking forward to the impact of the Middle Zambezi Landscape Conservation Strategy," said Munodawafa.

African Wildlife Foundation senior vice president Charly Facheux pledged to continue supporting the Government in terms of wildlife conservation support.

"Biodiversity is one of the biggest sectors that will drive Zimbabwe's national development aspiration," he said.

"The AWF remains committed to Zimbabwe and we want to use the Middle Zambezi Landscape Conservation Strategy report as traction or a model for other African countries."

Experts say the counting of a country's natural capital and its ecological services provides solid pointers to leaders in formulating and fine-tuning development policies and interventions in areas such as the environment, forest management, agroindustry, local government, green and blue economy.

Zimbabwe is one of the most mega-biodiverse countries in the world and efforts are underway to find ways in which to harness the sector so that it can effectively contribute to economic growth.

The country has a rich biodiversity base that includes 5 930 plant species, 670 bird species, 270 mammal species, 156 reptile species, 120 amphibian species and 150 fish species found within and outside protected areas.

African countries are increasingly turning to biodiversity as a key contributor to their GDP as sustainability, climate change and biodiversity loss take centre stage in the developmental agendas of many economies.

This article originally appeared on The Herald

Photo: The Herald