With the upsurge of wood poaching threatening Victoria Falls’ conservation vision, the Municipal Police have combined forces with other law enforcement agents to nip the budding problem. As a result, 94 arrests were made leading to the confiscation of a litany of weapons 79 axes, machetes 4 and a bow sew.
The cutting down of trees is viewed by the Local Authority as a threat to the Victoria Falls vision which states “to be a unique, competitive green city of world-class standard, offering a safe tourist and investment destination of choice supported by a well-developed community by 2030”.
Due to economic hardships and those that are pandemic induced, some residents have found a cheap way to escape the clean energy power costs by resorting to firewood to sustain their families.
The Municipal Security Officer Ronnie Moyo urged members of the public to desist from cutting down trees as it poses a danger to our flora and fauna. “I would like to urge residents to desist from cutting trees as it leads to deforestation and affects our tourism whose reliance on exemplary conservation is undoubted.
“For those who choose to defy the law the full wrath of the law awaits to take charge and arrest unscrupulous characters who work to derail our common goal as Victorians,” said Moyo.
Victoria Falls is a green destination; hence the illegal harvesting of trees dethrones and waters down the town’s claim that it conserves the natural resources to sustain wildlife visits into town.
Our town is built on Kalahari sands which are prone to gullies in case of deforestation.
Council is part of a Joint Integrated Management Plan for Mosi-Oa-Tunya/ Victoria Falls Trans-boundary, whose principal aim is to create a management system for adequate protection of the property for present and future generations as stipulated by UNESCO in 2008.