NATURAL habitats are essential for the survival and well-being of all living organisms.
Habitats provide necessary resources such as food, water, shelter, and breeding sites for the organisms that inhabit them.
For animals, a habitat ensures access to food, a suitable mate and successful reproduction. For plants, it must offer the right combination of light, air, water and soil.
Habitats support a variety of species, some of which are endemic to specific habitats. Each habitat hosts a unique community of plants, animals and micro-organisms, contributing to global biodiversity.
Natural habitats provide ecosystem services such as air and water purification, erosion control and flood protection. These services directly impact human health and well-being.
It is dismaying, therefore, that despite the importance of natural habitats to all living organisms, many people in Zambia have continued burning bushes recklessly.
This sort of environmental annihilation is compounded by sustained indiscriminate cutting down of trees for charcoal production, including for chitemene system of farming practised in northern Zambia.
This has been the case for decades notwithstanding the fact that this country has adequate legislations that have been enacted to ensure environmental conservation.
The blatant disregard of the laws that protect the environment from any kind of harm has compelled President Hakainde Hichilema to remind law enforcement officers of their mandate.
To this effect, the head of State has directed law enforcers to be proactive and ensure that people who have continued disregarding the law by burning natural habitats recklessly are arrested.
“As a champion of environmental protection, President Hichilema is saddened that some people have continued to disregard the law on reckless burning.
“He has since directed law enforcement officers to be proactive and bring the perpetrators to book,” Minister of Green Economy and Environment Collins Nzovu has announced.
We welcome the presidential directive to law enforcers to execute their mandate by seeing to it that all transgressors of environmental laws are brought to book.
Laws are enacted for special reasons and there is no way people in a country where the rule of law is upheld can continue abrogating the legislations with impunity.
President Hichilema’s concern about the continued burning of ecosystems is also a worry to everyone who understands and appreciates the importance of the environment to humans and other living organisms.
Protecting and preserving natural habitats is crucial for maintaining a healthy planet. These ecosystems provide essential services, regulate our environment and sustain life for all living beings.
Ecosystems regulate climate, water flow and nutrient distribution. They help prevent soil erosion, maintain water quality, and control floods.
Forests, wetlands and oceans act as carbon sinks, absorbing and storing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
This mitigates climate change by reducing greenhouse gas levels.
Ecosystems supply us with food, medicine, building materials and energy. They also purify air and water, ensuring our well-being.
Also, they have a cultural and spiritual value. Nature inspires us artistically and spiritually. Ecosystems contribute to our cultural identity and evoke feelings of belonging.
In addition, ecosystems provide recreation and aesthetic enjoyment. Parks, forests and natural landscapes offer opportunities for recreation and relaxation.
Connecting with nature enhances our mental and physical health.
Simply put, ecosystems are the intricate threads that weave life together. Protecting and preserving them is essential for a sustainable and harmonious world.
We, therefore, urge our law enforcement officers to heed the presidential decree and ensure that all culprits of reckless burning of natural habitats face the wrath of the law.
Cage reckless forest burners
NATURAL habitats are essential for the survival and well-being of all living organisms.
Habitats provide necessary resources such as food, water, shelter, and breeding sites for the organisms that inhabit them.
For animals, a habitat ensures access to food, a suitable mate and successful reproduction. For plants, it must offer the right combination of light, air, water and soil.
Habitats support a variety of species, some of which are endemic to specific habitats. Each habitat hosts a unique community of plants, animals and micro-organisms, contributing to global biodiversity.
Natural habitats provide ecosystem services such as air and water purification, erosion control and flood protection. These services directly impact human health and well-being.
It is dismaying, therefore, that despite the importance of natural habitats to all living organisms, many people in Zambia have continued burning bushes recklessly.
This sort of environmental annihilation is compounded by sustained indiscriminate cutting down of trees for charcoal production, including for chitemene system of farming practised in northern Zambia.
This has been the case for decades notwithstanding the fact that this country has adequate legislations that have been enacted to ensure environmental conservation.
The blatant disregard of the laws that protect the environment from any kind of harm has compelled President Hakainde Hichilema to remind law enforcement officers of their mandate.
To this effect, the head of State has directed law enforcers to be proactive and ensure that people who have continued disregarding the law by burning natural habitats recklessly are arrested.
“As a champion of environmental protection, President Hichilema is saddened that some people have continued to disregard the law on reckless burning.
“He has since directed law enforcement officers to be proactive and bring the perpetrators to book,” Minister of Green Economy and Environment Collins Nzovu has announced.
We welcome the presidential directive to law enforcers to execute their mandate by seeing to it that all transgressors of environmental laws are brought to book.
Laws are enacted for special reasons and there is no way people in a country where the rule of law is upheld can continue abrogating the legislations with impunity.
President Hichilema’s concern about the continued burning of ecosystems is also a worry to everyone who understands and appreciates the importance of the environment to humans and other living organisms.
Protecting and preserving natural habitats is crucial for maintaining a healthy planet. These ecosystems provide essential services, regulate our environment and sustain life for all living beings.
Ecosystems regulate climate, water flow and nutrient distribution. They help prevent soil erosion, maintain water quality, and control floods.
Forests, wetlands and oceans act as carbon sinks, absorbing and storing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
This mitigates climate change by reducing greenhouse gas levels.
Ecosystems supply us with food, medicine, building materials and energy. They also purify air and water, ensuring our well-being.
Also, they have a cultural and spiritual value. Nature inspires us artistically and spiritually. Ecosystems contribute to our cultural identity and evoke feelings of belonging.
In addition, ecosystems provide recreation and aesthetic enjoyment. Parks, forests and natural landscapes offer opportunities for recreation and relaxation.
Connecting with nature enhances our mental and physical health.
Simply put, ecosystems are the intricate threads that weave life together. Protecting and preserving them is essential for a sustainable and harmonious world.
We, therefore, urge our law enforcement officers to heed the presidential decree and ensure that all culprits of reckless burning of natural habitats face the wrath of the law.