Caroline Washaya-Moyo
The Environmental Management Agency (EMA) has intensified efforts to promote clean tourism destinations through improved waste management, enforcement of environmental laws and waste valorisation across Zimbabwe.
Speaking at the EMA exhibition stand at the Gymkhana Events and Conference Centre in Masvingo, where the agency is participating in the 19th Edition of the Sanganai/Hlanganani/Dzimbahwe Tourism Expo, Principal Environmental Education and Publicity Officer Liberty Mugadza said cleanliness was critical in creating attractive and sustainable tourism destinations.
Mugadza said EMA was placing greater emphasis on the proper management of post-consumer waste, while working closely with local authorities to strengthen their capacity to deal with littering and illegal dumping.
“We are advocating for cleanliness for a clean destination and a clean Zimbabwe. We are focusing more on post-consumer waste to make sure that it is handled properly,” said Mugadza.
He said many local authorities were struggling to cope with increasing pressure from littering and illegal dumping, prompting EMA to work with them to review and strengthen their by-laws.
“We are working with local authorities to adjust their by-laws so that they talk to the present realities and are able to curb the malpractices that are happening,” he said.
EMA is also training municipal police, inspectorate units and environmental officers to identify and prosecute environmental offences within their jurisdictions.
Mugadza said the agency was strengthening environmental stewardship at grassroots level, including in rural and traditional communities.
He said EMA had environment sub-committees in wards which were being capacitated to become custodians of the environment within their communities.
“Cleanliness must become a norm, be it in rural or urban local authorities,” he said.
On enforcement, Mugadza said EMA worked with local authorities to ensure that environmental laws and by-laws were effectively implemented, while the agency provided technical support and handled more complex cases.
“For more complex cases, we then take them up as EMA to make sure that we either prosecute through fines or take them through the judicial system,” he said.
The agency is also working with traditional leaders by training their assessors to assist in handling environmental offences that fall within the customary law framework.
However, Mugadza said serious environmental offences with significant impacts were referred to EMA for stronger penalties through the courts.
At the tourism expo, EMA is also promoting waste valorisation, encouraging players in the tourism and hospitality sector to turn waste generated from their operations into useful and valuable products.
Mugadza said the hospitality sector generated significant amounts of waste, particularly from food packaging and other post-consumer materials.
“We are teaching them how to make value from the waste being generated so that it can make new and useful products that also bring value to them and to their economy,” he said.
He said the agency was also advocating for reduced reliance on plastic packaging and greater adoption of paper and other biodegradable alternatives.
While current regulations allow plastic carrier bags of a minimum thickness of 30 microns, Mugadza said EMA was focusing on educating consumers and suppliers about the need to progressively move towards more environmentally friendly alternatives.
He said the campaign was not simply about imposing regulations but ensuring that communities understood the environmental consequences of plastic pollution.
Mugadza warned that plastic waste could break down into microplastics and nanoplastics, which pose growing environmental and human health concerns.
“We are educating and advocating for reduction of plastic usage. Eventually, we envisage to see an environment where there is minimum use of plastic, which has to be used only when it is necessary and the only option available,” he said.
The EMA’s participation at the Sanganai/Hlanganani/Dzimbahwe Tourism Expo reinforces the importance of environmental sustainability in Zimbabwe’s tourism development, as the country seeks to promote destinations that are not only attractive to visitors but also clean, responsible and sustainable.
The initiative also complements national development priorities under NDS2, particularly efforts to strengthen tourism, environmental sustainability, local economic development and the overall visitor experience.
