By Johnson Siamachira
Harare, (New Ziana) — A Zimbabwean conservation organisation, the Southern Alliance for Indigenous Resources (SAFIRE) has won a provincial Environmental Stewardship and Social Impact Award for more than three decades of work linking natural-resource conservation to rural livelihoods.
The award, presented at the 2026 Manicaland Province CSR, ESG & Responsible Business Awards in Mutare on Friday, recognises SAFIRE’s community-based conservation model, which the organisation says has reached more than 33,000 households, increased average monthly household income by US$165 and helped restore tens of thousands of hectares of degraded land.
The recognition comes as Zimbabwe strengthens the legal framework for community participation in wildlife and natural-resource management. The Parks and Wildlife Amendment Act No. 4 of 2025, which took effect in November 2025, provides for greater community involvement in the management and utilisation of natural resources.
Against this broader policy context, SAFIRE’s work focuses on community-based natural resource management, supporting communities to participate in sustainable resource governance, strengthen local livelihoods and contribute to the long-term conservation of their natural-resource base. The award highlights a growing policy shift in Zimbabwe: conservation is increasingly being framed not only as protection of wildlife and ecosystems but also as a livelihood strategy for communities living alongside natural resources.
SAFIRE Director Estella Toperesu said the award recognises the importance of putting communities at the centre of conservation.
“Lasting conservation is achieved when local people are empowered to restore, manage and sustainably benefit from their natural resources,” Toperesu said.
SAFIRE began its work in 1994 in Tongogara Refugee Camp in Chipinge district in Southern Manicaland Province. Since then, the organisation has expanded its work across Zimbabwe’s arid and semi-arid areas, including communities in Manicaland, Masvingo and Matabeleland South provinces. It works with rural communities to develop enterprises based on sustainable use of natural resources, restore degraded land and strengthen local decision-making.
Through its programmes, the organisations says it has planted more than 500,000 trees in the past three years, while over the last decade its restoration work has contributed to the recovery of more than 50,000 hectares of degraded land and the protection of a further5,600 hectares of arable land. In addition tothese landscape-level interventions, SAFIRE has played a role in strengthening Zimbabwe’s decentralised natural resource governance by contributing to the constitutional devolution of the natural resource management function to rural district councils, supporting local institutions and communities to participate more meaningfully in the management and governance of natural resources.
In Mutasa District in Manicaland Province, for example, the economic potential of that approach is illustrated by smallholder farmer Tawanda Bukuta. The farmer previously earned about US$100 a month during peak seasons from rain-fed maize production on degraded land. After joining a forest-restoration programme three years ago, he established a nursery producing peach seedlings. During the peak rainy-season planting period, when demand for seedlings is highest, he can earn around US$1,500, significantly increasing his income compared with his previous crop and livestock production farming enterprises.
Working together with Forestry Commission, Bukuta is leading a 60- member farmer group and has helped the farmers establish an orchard, and supports them with seedlings.
“I have learnt the importance of protecting and nurturing our forests,” he said. “There is life in these ecosystems.”
Zimbabwe faces mounting pressure on its forests, wildlife and agricultural land from climate variability and change, land degradation and human-wildlife conflict. The country’s community benefit-driven conservation programmes seek to address those pressures by giving rural people a direct economic stake in protecting natural resources.
Zimbabwe faces mounting pressure on its forests, wildlife and agricultural landscapes from climate variability and change, land degradation and human-wildlife conflict. In response, SAFIRE works alongside rural communities to promote sustainable natural resource management, strengthen livelihoods based on the responsible use of natural resources, restore degraded landscapes and build resilience to climate and environmental pressures. It is this broader, community-led work that justifies SAFIRE’s recognition with the award.
The award was presented by the Environmental Social and Governance Network Zimbabwe during its 10th annual Zimbabwe ESG and Responsible Business Summit under the theme, “Driving Devolution, Empowering Communities towards Vision 2030: Celebrating Sustainability Excellence in Manicaland.”
