The Environmental Management Agency (EMA) has called on young people to actively partner with the agency in identifying and conserving wetlands within their communities as part of broader efforts to strengthen environmental protection.
The call was made during a Post-COP15 meeting held in Bulawayo recently, following the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands Conference of the Parties (COP15) hosted in Victoria Falls last year.
The engagement brought together youths involved in environmental initiatives from different areas to map out the future of their participation in wetlands conservation.
Central to the discussions was the development of the “Victoria Falls Youth Workplan,” a strategic framework designed to guide youth involvement in wetlands protection across Zimbabwe during the country’s Ramsar COP presidency from 2025 to 2028.
Ramsar youth focal point for Zimbabwe, Linda Masudze, said the initiative seeks to amplify youth participation and visibility in conservation efforts.
“We are working on developing a workplan for youth engagement in wetlands in Zimbabwe as a follow-up to the Ramsar Convention held last year in Victoria Falls. Young people have been doing great work in terms of wetland conservation, but the main challenge has been visibility,” she said.
Masudze noted that many youth-led initiatives have lacked adequate platforms to showcase their efforts, despite ongoing work in areas such as Hillside Dams and Lake Chivero, as well as in marginalised communities.
She said the new workplan would help bridge this gap by creating structured opportunities for young environmentalists to contribute meaningfully to conservation programmes.
Sisonke Working Trust director, Themba Phiri, said increased youth participation in wetlands conservation is critical for sustainable development.
“Wetland conservation is at the forefront of development, and it is encouraging to see young people being engaged like this. Many people have not fully appreciated that wetlands can also provide livelihoods,” he said.
Phiri added that wetlands offer opportunities for income generation through eco-tourism and emerging environmental markets such as carbon sequestration.
“These are processes that can help young people generate income while contributing to environmental sustainability. They also create employment opportunities,” he said.
He highlighted that while some wetlands have already been identified in Bulawayo, including Hillside Dams, there is a need for further assessments to discover additional sites.
“If more studies are conducted and more wetlands are identified, communities can come together to conserve them and even develop eco-tourism initiatives. This would benefit both youths and the wider community,” said Phiri.
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