16 Mar 2025

The mushrooming of illegal harvesters of phane in Tshimoyapula is said to be worrisome.
To this end, the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources has requested the general public to stop harvesting phane as it has not matured.
The harvesters have been flocking Tshimoyapula since February but according to the Principal Forestry Officer, Mr Kennedy Mathathe, this is a bad move because early harvest threatened the survival of the species.
Mr Mathathe said coupled with the illegal harvesting of the phane is the contamination of the environment at harvesting sites.
He said the harvesters came from different areas such as Tswapong areas, Selebi Phikwe, Mahalapye, Topisi, Serule and North East.
He pointed out that in the evening, illicit alcohol and drugs are being sold at the camp sites.
He said his office had received reports from people who complained that phane harvesters trespassed their private properties, adding that the law does not allow harvesters to harvest in an area within a kilometre radius of private owned boreholes.
Mr Mathathe noted that harvesters should notify village leadership of their presence in their localities prior to harvesting.
Before the lodging of the illegal harvesters in area, he said, his office made round checks in areas with mophane vegetation to assess the amount of phane available and if it was enough for issuance of harvesting permits.
He, however, said his office did not manage to issue permits because the phane was still small.
The decision was reached as a conservation measure to allow phane to pupate or burrow into the ground and become stock for the next season so as to increase the severely reduced numbers of phane in the country.
Tshimoyapula Conservation Trust chairperson, Mr Onalenna Nkgabo said the trust exists to conserve natural resources including phane in Tshimoyapula and surrounding areas.
He said the illegal phane harvesters who have flocked Tshimoyapula from faraway places did not want to cooperate.
He said farmers in those areas had also raised concerns that harvesters exposed their livestock to measles while they also left the are infiltrated with litter.
Mr Nkgabo said the trust was mandated to manage natural resources for the benefit of the people of Tshimoyapula and surrounding areas and therefore they have requested the department of forestry to allow them to issue permits in their area to control the situation.
He pointed out this could have given them powers to guard their natural resources.
He said the intention was to place temporary toilets at harvesting areas during the phane harvesting period.
One of the harvesters from Topisi, Ms Joyce Kaisara said phane helped her sustain her life as the income enabled her to send children to school.
One farmer, Mr John Monthe indicated that cattle were exposed to beef measles, which could lead to economic losses for the beef industry. ENDS