Protecting the Environment and Enriching Human Life through Agency
Like many other countries, Zambia has not been spared of environmental degradation and the effects of the climate crisis. Zambian communities face a number of environmental problems and with an ever-increasing population, these challenges are also increasing. Mizu Eco-Care seeks to be a leading platform for mindset change and a paradigm shift towards environmental sustainability.
Work on our Ngwerere River Restoration Project Continues!
We kicked off the second round of cleanups in our Ngwerere River Restoration Project on September 15th and 16th, coinciding with World Cleanup Day. It was a amazing to be joined by over 80 volunteers, donors and supporters and we could not be more thankful for their participation.
Keeping our rivers clean and safe is a sacred responsibility which is rooted in a deep feeling of respect for all life. There are so many reasons to protect our waterways. It mitigates climate change by conserving wildlife and biodiversity by helping plants, trees and fish flourish - rivers are great transporters of nutrients. A clean river is a source of clean drinking water for humans and animals and provides sustainable sources of food, directly and indirectly. Rivers, lakes and oceans also are places that hold our histories, traditions and cultures. We become a part of all of these things when we show up and take care of our rivers.
The Environmental Education and Management Student Association from UNZA were back in full-force, along with Chongwe Municipal Council, Kalimba Farms, Galunia Farms and many others, working to clear away brush and remove trash from the roadside drainage and river banks.
Tools such as shovels, rakes, picks and slashers were provided by Mass Engineering Ltd. Tipper trucks were donated by Kalimba and Galunia farms and Ciela Spa supplied drinking water for all of the volunteers.
All-in-all, we filled 11 truckloads with waste from the event!
The African Methodist Episcopal Church not only donated re-usable, durable safety gloves and manpower, they offered a word of prayer at the end of the cleanup, reminding us of the inextricable connection between our faith and the environment.
Join the team! Get in touch with us to find out how you can help make a difference!
Check out some of the photos taken from our Ngwerere River Cleanup that took place in June!
Let's restore the Ngwerere River and protect our water supply, wildlife and food systems.
“Environment is no one’s property to destroy, it’s everyone’s responsibility to protect,” Mohithi Agadi
Zambia is one of the most beautiful places on earth. Rich in culture and biodiversity, an abundance of natural resources and home of the giants: Baobabs, Elephants and Waterfalls. Zambia is also home to smaller members that help sustain us, from Mopane worms, wild mushrooms, Bream fish and Cassava.
Zambia has also been “developing” at an extremely fast rate in order to keep up with the needs of our fast growing population. Yet somewhere along the way we have become separated from nature. This can be clearly seen by the way we pollute one of our most precious, yet often overlooked resources; our rivers and streams.
So much of our lives depend on access to clean water - homes, businesses, farms, trees, animals- we can't live without it. Sadly the very sources of our water have been heavily polluted for decades. One source in particular is the Ngwerere Stream which originates in the capital city of Lusaka As a main tributary of the Chongwe River, this stream is socially, economically and environmentally important, though sadly it has been unsafe (if even accessible) to do so for decades.
There are many factors contributing to the community’s water issues, such as drought, over-extraction by commercial and small-scale farmers, polluted discharges from run-down and over-burdened treatment facilities and stabilisation ponds, and the illegal dumping of waste-particularly plastic waste.
Humans are not the only ones affected. Our ecosystems have taken an enormous hit, which ultimately contributes to ecosystem degradation and climate change.
It is time to act! Join us on 5th June 2023 World Environment Day as we gather to clean-up the plastic at the Ngwerere stream bridge.
Contact us to be part of the clean-up!
Kapete Boarding Secondary School environmental outreach workshop
On Friday 27th of January 2023, we were at Kapete Boarding Secondary School for an environmental outreach/workshop whose theme was: The Significance of Wildlife and Ecosystems. Many thanks to the school administration for hosting us. Thanks also go to our partner The Global March for Elephants and Rhinos, for supporting the event.
NOT ALL CARBON CREDITS ARE CREATED EQUAL
These concerns were raised by Timothy Kamuzu Phiri, Executive Director of Mizu Eco-Care in Zambia, at the Born Free Foundation’s Beyond Trophy Hunting talk in December 2022. During the talk, he explained why the quality of carbon credits is instrumental not only to the systems’ success in achieving climate goals but also in achieving transparency about who benefits from carbon credits and whether that financial reward is relative to their contribution.
“Are all carbon credits equal? The answer is no, and I’ll give an example of that,” he said. “If you look at carbon credit mechanisms like the [Northern Rangelands Trust] that’s taking place in Kenya, you will notice that the land on which this project is taking place is actually owned by local communities. That’s a good carbon credit mechanism.”
“Then you have carbon credit mechanisms that take place on private land, which means you have to drive out communities from that land. […] That’s not a good mechanism. Then you have management teams that run that particular project not being transparent with the funds being raised, they’ll tell you $5 million was given to the community from this mechanism, but you do not have any idea what the total amount generated was.”
“If the total amount generated was $50 million then $5 million doesn’t look like a lot of money. The local communities will be poor so when they see the 5 million, they will be celebrating, but the mechanism is unjust.”
Many thanks to the Born Free Foundation and its President and co-founder Will Travers OBE for the opportunity and platform to share these ethical conservation tools. It was a pleasure to speak alongside these renowned panellists: Dr. Ralph Chami Assistant Director of International Monetary Fund, Praveen Moman Founder of Volcanoes Safaris in Uganda and Rwanda, @Tom Lalampaa Chief Executive Officer of Northern Rangeland Trust in Kenya.
Timothy Kamuzu Phiri with fellow panellist Dr Ralph Chami, Assistant Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at the Born Free Foundation organised event in London. The discussion focused on the viability of Alternative Conservation Tools, their financing and implementation models.
The Radisson Blu Resort in the Elephant Corridor
The Radisson Blu Mosi -oa-Tunya Resort in Livingstone is almost complete and will be opening soon. However, this resort sits in the elephant corridor and has not adhered to two key recommendations of the Decision Letter dated 17th December 2019 issued by the Zambia Environmental Management Agency. Learn more about these issues in the video below.
De-snaring of a young Zebra in the Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park in Livingstone, Zambia
Why people cut down trees?
A Biosphere Reserve & Copper mine in Lower Zambezi
The Agro ecology, Social Accountability and Climate Change Media Awards 2022
Attending ActionAid Zambia workshop on ClimateJustice for women in Lusaka 2021
Documenting Organic and Conservation Farming in Kafue 2020
Collaborating with other Environmental Educators at Mulungushi International Conference Centre 2020
You Are Either Part of The Solution or Part of the Problem
If you own a yard that is completely paved in concrete with no tree insight -
YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM
If you never planted a tree in the Year 2022 - YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM
If you throw litter through the windows of your vehicle - YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM
If you see people litter but do not call them out and educate them about the problem of littering and its consequences - YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM
If you go shopping without carrying a shopping bag but prefer to buy a plastic shopping bag from the shop - YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM
If you keep buying drinks in plastic bottles and do not make an effort to recycle them - YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM
If you do not carry a reusable water bottle but keep buying water in plastic bottles - YOU ARE PART OF THE
If while shopping you keep putting your fruits/veg into plastic for the purpose of weighing it - YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM
If you do not buy or support local products but only buy foreign brands - YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM
If you do not support conservation farming and prefer to use chemical fertilizers - YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM
If you have or are about to acquire property in Kingsland City or any area that was formerly part of the FOREST 27 - YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM
If you defend the destruction of protected areas such as forests ignoring all the negative environmental consequences - YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM
If you see wrong happening and are well informed about the wrong but still choose to keep quiet - YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM
If you support mining in Lower Zambezi - YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM
If you support the killing of wildlife - YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM