by Tsitsi Ndawana
On the 5th of June, RWA Zimbabwe through Women and Land in Zimbabwe (WLZ) celebrated World Environment Day (WED). This year’s campaign focused on land restoration, desertification and drought resilience under the slogan “Our land, our future, we are #GenerationRestoration.” RWA Zimbabwe celebrated WED in two districts: Gokwe and Gweru. The two events were attended by close to 700 people who included stakeholders from various government departments and policy makers. These two districts are amongst the ones which are facing massive environmental degradation due to mining activities which are being done by multinational corporations. RWA Zimbabwe note with concerns that thousands of hectares of land in the country is degraded, and this is threatening lives of people especially rural communities who depend much on the environment. Therefore, RWA Zim acknowledge the importance of raising awareness on environmental protection and demanding the environmental justice.
During the commemorations, local RWA women had opportunity to present their struggles to policy makers who were in attendance. The struggles mentioned included loss of biodiversity, degraded land, pollution and waste. RWA women also demanded environmental justice and quick action to restore the environment. Women depend much on the environment and their main sources of livelihoods depend on it. RWA Zim leaders also called for land restoration action especially to the multinational corporation who are degrading the environment due their activities. RWA Zim note that land restoration can reverse the creeping tide of land degradation and drought. Restoration also boosts livelihoods, lowers poverty and build resilience to climate change. RWA Zim also demanded to the leaders that it is important to tackle land restoration and climate change together so that all the issues of loss and damage are fully addressed.
