By Vusumuzi Sifile
A wave of land invasions has struck the Eastern Highlands, leaving in its wake 10 000 hectares of torched plantations that will see heavy job losses and a shortage of timber products next year.
The country’s thriving timber industry will suffer a major setback after illegal settlers set fire to vast tracks of timber plantations in the Eastern Highlands recently, destroying timber that could have earned the country billions in foreign currency.Thousands of hectares of mostly pine trees were burnt to ashes within hours on once productive estates. One person, believed to be a commercial farmer, died during the conflagration. There was no immediate confirmation of his identity.
Most affected were two of the country’s leading timber producers — Border Timbers Ltd (BTL) and Allied Timbers — which recorded a combined loss of close to 10 000 ha.
Other companies also recorded significant losses although these could not be immediately quantified.
The Standard last week visited BTL’s largest pine plantation, Charter Estate in Chimanimani, where close to 5 000 hectares of timber went up in smoke in two fires that emanated from Kushinga and Nyaruwa villages, on September 9 and 25, respectively. This is the biggest loss on the company’s plantations since 2002, when fires became prevalent in the wake of the chaotic land invasions.
The settlers, mostly from the Nyaruwa and Chinyai clans, resettled themselves on the timber plantation at the height of the land invasions, arguing that the plantation was situated on land that used to belong to their ancestors. Repeated attempts — including a High Court order — to have the estimated 500 families evicted have been in vain.
Officials at BTL warned that starting next year, there would be a significant decline in timber exports due to reduced harvests. It would take many years for the company to revert back to their normal forestry activities, a move that could result in an uneven estate, causing serious damage to the environment.
“We have had to change our plans because of the problem which will see us taking out volumes worth several years of production,” said Tonderayi Kachale, Forestry Manager for BTL.
“The challenge now is to harvest quickly before the timber deteriorates in quality. We now need to change in order to salvage more timber. We have up to six months to do this.”
Kachale oversees operations at the company’s five estates — Charter, Tilbury and Sawerombi in Chimanimani, and Imbeza and Sheba in Penhalonga.
“It is going to be a problem for us to get the capacity to harvest. We will need to purchase more equipment to handle such volumes,” said Kachale. A reasonable fraction of the trees is now being felled to waste as they had not attained the required diameter to be commercially used.
The illegal settlers allegedly set the plantations on fire in order to clear the land for subsistence farming. Others, it was said, were clearing the forests in search of mice and other small animals to avert pervasive hunger.
“Just a few days after the first fire, we were surprised to find that the settlers had already partitioned a portion of the estate among themselves,” said Norman Mandikiyana, the manager of Charter Estate.
When The Standard visited his home at a valley in Charter Estate, head of the Nyaruwa clan, Happy Nyaruwa, first denied that his subjects were responsible for the fires.
Instead, he said the fires had been caused by BTL employees. He later admitted his subjects “could have been responsible” and stressed the need for co-operation with BTL.
“There is no way I can allow people to burn the forest when even our lives would be in danger. My own hut was almost destroyed by the fire,” said Nyaruwa, in Shona. “We put out that fire all night, but the following morning, we were surprised to see there was another fire. This thing can only end if we complement each other in fighting these fires.”
Ironically, some of the illegal settlements were also destroyed in the fire. A number of settlers could be seen preparing food in the open, while others were reconstructing their shacks – using timber from the plantations’ burnt pine trees.
Kachale said repeated engagements with the authorities on the settlers had only ended in unfulfilled promises.
“We have engaged the authorities on various occasions and at various levels, but it has all been promises and no action,” Kachale said. “We have spoken to the police, the district administrator and traditional leaders. We have also followed the legal route to have the settlers evicted.”
Environment Minister, Francis Nhema on Friday said he was attending a meeting at the Sanganai Tourism Fair in Bulawayo. Attempts to call him later were futile.
The Standard was told telephone lines to Chimanimani police station were also destroyed in the fire.Police national spokesperson, Wayne Bvudzijena on Friday said he would consult his colleagues in Mutare and then comment.
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