Harare, (New Ziana)— Farmers attending the 2026 Zimbabwe Agricultural Show have been urged to stop cultivating wetlands and stream banks, with environmental authorities warning that continued disturbance of the ecosystems could worsen water pollution, flooding and Zimbabwe’s water insecurity.
Amkela Sidange, the Environmental Management Agency’s environmental education and publicity manager and spokesperson, said farmers should treat wetlands as critical water infrastructure rather than unused land available for cultivation.
“We are saying no water without wetlands,” Sidange said at the agricultural show. “Farmers need to understand that when they cultivate in wetlands, they are interfering with the natural systems that store and filter water.”
Sidange said wetlands act as natural filters, helping to improve water quality while absorbing excess rainfall and reducing the speed and volume of runoff into rivers and urban areas.
“Once you drain or cultivate these areas, you destroy that capacity,” she said. “When the rains come, the water has nowhere to go and that is when we begin to see flooding. We also increase the risk of pollution reaching our water sources.”
The warning comes as Zimbabwe faces growing pressure on its water resources from urban expansion, drought, climate variability and wetland degradation. Zimbabwe has seven wetlands designated as Wetlands of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention, covering more than 453,000 hectares.
Sidange said farmers must comply with environmental regulations before undertaking activities that could damage wetlands.
Zimbabwe’s Environmental Management Act prohibits people from reclaiming or draining wetlands or disturbing them without written authorisation from the Environmental Management Agency. Violations can attract a fine of up to level eight, imprisonment of up to two years, or both.
“Wetlands are not wastelands,” Sidange said. “They support biodiversity, they store water and they contribute to the replenishment of groundwater. When you destroy them, you are compromising your own water security.”
The threat is particularly serious in Harare, where development and cultivation have significantly reduced wetland areas. An Auditor-General’s assessment found that 3,716.64 hectares of Harare’s wetlands had been affected by construction, representing about 16 per cent of the city’s wetland area.
Sidange urged farmers to adopt good agricultural practices that protect wetlands while improving productivity on suitable land.
“We want farmers to produce, but production must be sustainable,” she said. “Do not sacrifice the water sources that your farming depends on today for a harvest that you will get this season.”
She said protecting wetlands requires cooperation among farmers, local authorities, communities and government agencies.
“If we protect wetlands, we protect water, agriculture, livelihoods and communities,” Sidange said. “Wetland protection is therefore not only an environmental issue. It is an economic and food-security issue as well.”
A Monavale Vlei scout and conservation officer Jimmy Muropa admires the Bells of St Mary’s flower in the wetland. Image by Tatenda Chitagu.
Balancing sustainability and development
As part of its work, COSMO and its partners also focus on protecting Monavale Vlei from expanding development. The group employed Muropa to monitor unlawful encroachments and often works with the EMA and Harare City Council to ensure environmental laws are enforced.
“People see this wetland and think this is idle land,” said Barbara Vitoria, chairperson of COSMO Trust. “Harare’s wetlands are seasonal, so are often perceived as underutilized, empty space. It is difficult for developers and members of the public to understand the true value of wetlands.”
In 2019, businessman Sharadkhumah Patel obtained an environmental impact assessment (EIA) from the EMA and a development permit from the Harare City Council to develop 121 cluster homes on part of the 34-hectare protected wetland. However, this was blocked by a Supreme Court ruling in 2021 that said the EIA and development permit were issued improperly.
According to the court documents, the proposal overlapped with a section of the Monavale wetland and would have required the digging up of special foundations and clearance of lands. This would have likely caused massive degradation and irreparable destruction of bird habitat, the court said. Other ecosystem services, such as water retention and filtration, were also at risk of being affected, it added.
Amkela Sidange, the environmental education and publicity manager at the EMA, told Mongabay that the issuance of an EIA certificate doesn’t warrant destroying wetlands.
The Supreme Court ruling was due to “procedural issues,” she said. The businessman then restarted the process with recommendations and received another EIA certificate with “conditions for protecting the wetland.”
