Development agency DanChurchAid has urged corporate Zimbabwe to join forces with communities and civil society in protecting the country’s fragile wetland ecosystems, warning that failure to act could come at a grave cost to both people and the planet.
Speaking on the sidelines of the 15th Conference of Parties (COP15) to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands recently held in Victoria Falls, Mads Lindegard, DanChurchAid Zimbabwe Country Director, called for urgent and inclusive collaboration on wetland management.
“Zimbabwe is privileged to still have such pristine eco-systems, which have long disappeared in other countries. We all need to come together, corporate and non-corporate citizens, to protect our common asset, our planet, or else we will all pay the ultimate price,” Lindegard said.
The Ramsar Convention, first adopted in Iran in 1971, is an international treaty promoting the conservation and wise use of wetlands.
This year’s COP15 summit saw government officials, business leaders, conservationists and parliamentarians from across southern Africa convene at Victoria Falls Safari Lodge to advance strategies for wetlands protection.
The DanChurchAid side event, co-hosted with Conservation Conversation, Ubuntu Alliance, and Friends of the Environment, brought together players from finance, waste management, tech, and NGOs, including the WWF Africa Regional Office, the Gender Commission, and the Parliament of Zimbabwe.
French Ambassador Paul-Bertrand Barets, the event’s guest of honour, echoed the call for private sector involvement.
“Sustainable development is achievable through the commitments and interactions of governments and civil society, local communities, influential individuals, and the private sector,” he said
DanChurchAid, with a legacy spanning over 100 years and operations in 22 countries, has long advocated for integrated responses to development challenges—from HIV/AIDS and famine to climate change and biodiversity loss.
In the lead-up to COP15, the agency collaborated with Zimbabwe’s Parliament on a nationwide campaign dubbed Voices of Zimbabwe on Wetlands, aimed at galvanising community action and awareness.
The campaign toured five Ramsar sites and is credited with accelerating efforts to domesticate the Ramsar Convention through new legislation.
Buhera Central legislator and Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Environment, Climate, and Wildlife, Sam Matema highlighted the importance of blending science with traditional knowledge.
“Cultural knowledge is what has preserved Zimbabwe’s ecosystems where other countries have failed,” he said.
DanChurchAid has also invested heavily in climate mitigation and adaptation. Its initiatives include planting 500,000 trees in the Zambezi Valley and supporting climate-adaptive agriculture, particularly in Matabeleland.
“In DanChurchAid we are firsthand witnesses to how climate change displaces communities and causes food insecurity for millions of people worldwide. The obvious thing is to set an example and to pioneer new standards of responsibility,” said Lindegard.
Since 2020, the agency has supported over 200,000 Zimbabweans with climate-related disaster relief and improved food security for 145,000 people, mainly women and children, in urban and rural areas.
DanChurchAid Communications and Advocacy Lead, Patience Ukama, highlighted the need for inclusive engagement.
“Such engagement will reduce biodiversity loss, including wetland degradation, human-wildlife conflict, and ensure that communities have a seat at the table, together with private sector to ensure a whole-of-society approach to wetland management,” she said.
The agency’s use of indigenous knowledge, particularly in agroecology, is helping transform farming systems in Zimbabwe’s diverse ecological regions.
With climate adaptive agriculture, DanChurchAid supports integrated landscape management that balances food security and environmental sustainability.
As the Parliament of Zimbabwe moves to finalise legislation aligning national law with the Ramsar Convention, Matema issued a clear rallying cry “A multi-sectorial meeting must be convened where all stakeholders, including the corporate sector, jointly determine the way forward.”
The message from Victoria Falls was unambiguous—Zimbabwe’s wetlands are a national treasure, and protecting them requires everyone’s commitment.
Temp Mail / August 2, 2025
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