US embassy cable - 05HARARE423

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, Environment 
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 
---------------------------- 
 
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 
------------------------------------------ 
 
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 
------------------------- 
 
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 
------------ 
 
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