Time Has Run Out For Words – It’s Time To Act

(As published in the Times of Zambia on 15/11/2021)

Let’s not kid ourselves.  We know we’re losing Nature and we also know the perils that will follow. The COP26 meeting has made that clear.  Don’t think others will solve them because they won’t.  The terrible waste and plunder of trees in Zambia is unforgiveable.  The assault on our soils with chemicals is senseless.  The slaughter of wildlife is beyond sadness.

Zambia, these are our actions, and we will pay dearly if we stay on our current collision course.  When all is gone and made bare, and the wrath of climate change is showing its full fury, how do we explain ourselves? We welcome help from outside to avoid such calamities, but the tough decisions and hard work must come from within Zambia – our leaders, our farmers, our teachers, our preachers, our youth, all of us.

It is easy to say we must cherish Nature, so we can learn to live with it, nurture it and even enjoy it. Yes, our relationship with Nature can be a positive and beautiful one, but judging from our current state of the environment, we have chosen to fight it, control it, and sadly plunder it.

If we look at ourselves as a Nation and say we can’t continue on our current course, then what can we do?  We act.

Government policies and political leaders must force needed change to protect us all.  Private sector must abandon practices that waste, pollute and degrade the environment and start to decarbonize their value chains. Consumers, think twice before you throw that plastic bottle out your window or buy that bag of charcoal. Students, be part of the future with innovations that help sustain our balance with Nature. In the end, our economy will thrive when Nature thrives.

Change is not that hard.  We just have to do it. Words won’t, but action will.  What could be the first steps that could start saving trees, restore depleted soils, and realign our economy with conservation?  Here are some starters. They could begin today.  We just need the will and the right people and partnerships to make them happen.

1. Government discretionary funds support local development needs when communities demonstrate measurable positive change in land and forest protection.
2. Zambia Food Reserve offers a premium maize price for communities that adopt sustainable, eco-agricultural practices.
3. Zambia National Reserve trains and establishes a Youth Green Corps to help rural communities build local conservation solutions.
4. Zambia launches a transition to low-cost, fuel-efficient paraffin cookers to replace charcoal and save Zambia’s forests while more energy-clean alternatives are found.
5. Help small-scale farmers adopt the use of fertilizer-producing trees in their fields to restore soil health and provide a sustainable supply fuelwood for cooking.
6. Banks and other lending institutions help private sector initiatives with affordable financing that reduce emissions and protect biodiversity.
7. Government launches a national program to turn wildlife poachers into viable farmers with an amnesty plus incentive for all illegal firearms surrendered.
8. Strengthen market opportunities that help incentivize farmers to care for the land with policy interventions that give better value to farmers for adopting conservation practices.

Community Markets for Conservation, COMACO, has been out there for the past 19 years testing some of these ideas, and they work.  It’s time to scale, collaborate, partner, share lessons and show the world that Zambia can act.  If public-private partnerships are the answer to help drive this process, then COMACO is ready to sign up and be part of a national team to make conservation happen.  No more waiting, it is time to act.

Dale Lewis

COMACO CEO