RUNDU: The Agriculture , Water and Forestry Minister John Mutorwa is deeply disturbed by the increasing cases of illegal harvesting of forest resources, saying it is becoming a worrisome activities.
The Agriculture Minister cautioned community members not to protect culprits cornered for illegal harvesting because it is a criminal offence.
Speaking during a consultative meeting with Green Scheme farmers and horticulture producers at Rundu this week, Mutorwa noted that as much as the Directorate of Forestry is tasked with the protection and conservation of forestry resources, he feels that it is a heavy responsibility that they cannot single handedly accomplish alone.
He thus urged the Traditional Authorities, regional political leader especially the regional Councilors to be the eyes and ears of the Forestry Directorate. “All of must be the police to protect the natural resources,” Mutorwa urged.
Mutorwa called on the officials from the Forestry Directorate to continuously educate community members about the impacts of illegal forest harvesting and benefits that can be derived from sustainable utilization and protection of such resources.
In the same vein, Mutorwa also spoke out about the uncontrolled veld fire that is destroying large tracks of land and said it is also remains a headache particularly this time of the dry season.
He called on farmers and community members to be responsible saying he failed to understand why people start veld fire for no reason.
(edited)RUNDU – The Minister of Agriculture, Water and Forestry Minister says he is ‘deeply disturbed’ by the increasing cases of illegal harvesting of forest resources. Speaking during a consultative meeting with Green Scheme farmers and horticulture producers at Rundu this week, Agriculture Minister John Mutorwa cautioned community members not to protect culprits found to be involved in illegal harvesting, as it is a criminal offence.
Mutorwa noted that as much as the Directorate of Forestry is tasked with the protection and conservation of forestry resources, he feels that it is a big responsibility which they cannot accomplish single-handedly.
He thus urged traditional authorities and political leaders such as regional councillors to become the ‘eyes and ears’ of the directorate. “All of must be the ‘police’ in order to protect the natural resources,” Mutorwa urged.
He further called on Directorate of Forestry officials to continuously educate community members about the impact of illegal harvesting, as well as the benefits that can be derived from the sustainable utilisation and protection of such resources.
The minister also spoke out about uncontrolled veld fires which are destroying large tracts of land, saying it remains a headache. Mutorwa said he fails to understand why people ‘start veld fires for no reason’, and called on farmers and members of the community to be responsible.