16 Jun 2022

The drought plan approved by Parliament a year ago will be launched in Tshane on June 21 as part of World Desertification and Drought Day commemoration activities.  

  Department of Forestry and Range Resources director, Ms Baitshepi Hill told BOPA in an interview that the plan would be launched by Minister of Environment and Tourism Ms Philda Kereng.

Explaining that the commemoration was aimed at  raising awareness on desertification and drought related issues,  she said the day’s activities would challenge all to come up with measures for resuscitating the environment and minimising activities leading to land degradation. 

  Ms Hill said the country was prone to drought therefore it was necessary for its inhabitants to actively engage each other to minimise the negative impacts on the environment.

The commemoration’s other objective was to encourage people to come together to not only reduce drought effects and desertification but to equally engage in food production to feed the nation, she said. 

Ms Hill said desertification and drought were issues of global concern and as such it took joint efforts to act against their negative impacts. 

Therefore, she said, her ministry in conjunction with  stakeholders dealing with issues of environmental conservation were engaging communities through awareness campaigns. 

Ms Hill said human activities and climatic variations were at the forefront in causing land degradation and ultimately desertification and drought.

Inappropriate land use, veldt fires, deforestation and harmful emissions were some of the contributing factors to desertification and drought, she said.   

 Calling on all to assess the impact of their activities on land resources, Ms Hill advised them to be cautious in their actions.

 “Everyone must act responsibly, empower themselves with the necessary education to eliminate effects of environmental degradation,” said Ms Hill. 

She appealed to the community to act against any activities likely to degrade the environment. 

World Desertification and Drought Day falls on June 17. BOPA