By Jeff Kapembwa
Zambia’s quest to insulate against the recurring climate change received a fillip after the Czech’s republic, a member of the 28-member European Union sought to partner in the protection of the forestry sector, faced with massive extinction trees, chiefly for charcoal.
Zambia, one of the victims of climate change is losing an estimated 250,000 to 300,000 hectares of forest cover annually due to factors including indiscriminate cutting, research by sector experts say.
There is growing unsustainable agricultural practices, and charcoal production. This high rate of deforestation, driven significantly by activities like charcoal burning, posing a serious threat to Zambia’s ecosystems and economy.
Reports from the Forestry Global Watch, one of the anti-climate change campaigners, Zambia initially had 35.0 Mha of natural forest, extended over 47 percent of its land areas.
In 2024, the degree of degradation grew fourfold, recording 325 kha of natural forest, equivalent of 114 Mt of Carbon Dioxide (CO2 emissions.
The research shows that from 2021-2024, Zambia had lost 2.67 Mha of tree cover, equivalent to a 11% of the 2000 tree cover area, and 1.01 Gt of CO₂ emissions. This, however, does not account for gains in tree cover over the same period.
Other informed research findings, paint a gloomy picture for Zambia. There is dire call for remedial actions for the forest sector to survive amid escalating cost of living and increased demand for timber on commercial projects that have depleted forests, heightening climatic-induced damage.
Another study found Zambia’s forest products alone valued around $511 million annually, with a multiplier effect raising that to $761 million or 3.8% of GDP.
The 1.01 Gt of CO₂ emissions represents a loss of economic value that can be estimated by the cost of carbon, potentially reaching into billions of dollars.
The high rate of denotation, according to UNEP, a United Nations environmental watchdog, is a cost of the country’s forestry industry and if preserved, has multiplier benefits as this can provide firewood, food, regulate the water and carbon cycles, provide oxygen and protect the biodiversity.
Sustained forests can provide various benefits and one of them include being alternative source of energy. The use of briquettes, blocks made by sawdust obtained by the wood production scraps, are among other economic values if there is a quick solution, research adds.
Although the real returns from a preserved forestry industry may not be quantified, it is necessary to find out a quick solution for the forest degradation in Zambia which is rated as one of the most important countries at global level for deforestation.
If policed, this deforestation, can reduce the deforestation caused by the production and the use of charcoal in developing countries, findings show.
The Czech Republic, appreciating Zambia’s cross-cutting climate change countervailing measures, has joined hands through the Czech Development Agency (CDA).
It seeks to cooperate with the Ministry of Green Economy and the Environment (MGEE) and through the LEAF project, a Team Europe initiative under the Green Nexus framework, to restore the sector value for economy gain.
Under the 2025-2030 programme, the project will strive to enhance forest-linked value chains (including timber traceability), Support to livelihoods and conservation in protected areas such as forests during the five-year-period.’
The support will embrace among other sector inclined activities: scaling up landscape restoration and afforestation; sustainable agriculture and food systems resilient to climate change; nature-based tourism/ecotourism with benefits to local communities, green energy solutions, waste management, and conservation of biodiversity.
The Czech Republic Ambassador to Zambia, Jiri Kyrian is cited as saying during a courtesy call on MGEE minister Mike Mposha on Friday, reads a statement issued by Harriet Nchimunya, the ministry’s spokeswomen.