Zirrcon, Zimbabwe, nature conservation, liberation by Paul Spencer Sochaczewski

Published in Gemini News Service
May 1996

ZIMBABWE'S 'WAR OF THE TREES' FIGHTS ON HOLY GROUND
People wage holy war on drought

MASVINGO, Zimbabwe

Chief Murinye, a community leader in central Zimbabwe, raises his right fist in the air in a power salute and shouts "pamberi nehondo yemiti, forward, the war of the trees."

This is the war cry of ZIRRCON (Zimbabwean Institute of Religious Research and Ecological Conservation), created in 1972 by Zimbabwean Inus Daneel. The group was created, Daneel says, "out of sheer necessity. The countryside was turning into a moonscape."

ZIRRCON has planted 1.2 million trees through an imaginative approach which places tree planting in the dual contexts of traditional spiritual values as well as the country's 1970s chimurenga liberation struggle against the white supremacist regime of Ian Smith.
ZIRRCON operates in Masvingo Province, near the famous Great Zimbabwe Ruins, and today counts some 328 chiefs and 65 headmen as supporters.

"Some people in this dry region have to walk five kilometers to get water," Daneel observes. "Just one in 17 trees planted in Africa survive. Here we have a survival rate of 20-30%. This is a link between faith and earthkeeping. It is practical work."

And it is spiritual work.

Chief S.M. Mugabe notes that ZIRRCON's objective is to shift the war of liberation to the land, and to put that war in a practical and spiritual context. Chief Murinye adds that the independence war unified Christian and traditional beliefs, and that "the need now is to bring them together for the war of trees."

The practical side of this ecological war, in the ZIRRCON context, means planting trees to provide fuelwood, trees to stop erosion, and trees to provide fruit for people and fodder for domestic animals.

Spiritual means recognizing that trees support Zimbabwean's varied spiritual traditions.

Acknowledging Zimbabwe's religious diversity, ZIRRCON works with traditional healers and chiefs, and also with the dozens of African Traditional Christian Churches.

Regardless of religious orientation (and the borderline is often vague), all Zimbabweans realize the importance of rain.

During the long dry period, it is common for Zimbabwe newspapers to run stories like "Battle for control of Njelele shrine", which told of the row among three prominent families to manage a tree-covered hill that is important in rain-making ceremonies. Water is the critical issue here, and trees help keep streams flowing year round.

The most effective wars are those fought for an ideal -- democracy or religion come to mind. Or, in Zimbabwe's case, an objective of a just war is to gain the blessings of the ancestors.

My introduction to a ZIRRCON tree-planting event took place with traditional tribal priests who brewed beer under a cork tree, part of an ancient rainmaking ceremony. My guide was Chief Murinye who, like most members of Zirrcon, has taken on a nom de guerre that reflects a tree name, in his case muvuyu, or great baobob. "The graves of our forefathers are naked [devoid of trees]. We're ashamed. Our ancestors are watching what we do here. If they approve they'll send rain."

During the ritual I have been named mushavi, or fig. I plant trees with Chizu, an 11 year old girl. Her nom de guerre: mitobge, custard apple.

One hot afternoon in Zano village, I joined some 50 bishops of various African independent Christian churches, who sprinkled holy water on ground that was soon to welcome tree saplings.
Bishop Mutikizizi, tall and elegant in a scarlet robe and light blue cape, white scarf and six pointed crown of scarlet cloth and sequins, offered communion to the villagers and simultaneously blessed the tiny saplings they held in their hands.

He hears confession from his parishioners. Confessions probably similar to those most priests hear anywhere in the world. And confession of ecological sins. One woman nursing a baby says "I've cut a living tree without planting one to replace it." An old man admits to clearing natural vegetation in order to grow crops on river banks.

Another man confesses "I failed to manage contours on steep land."

Yet another admits to letting his goats overgraze pasture land. Daneel believes that ultimately unrepentant ecological sinners will increasingly find themselves debarred from participating in the eucharist. Revd. Solomon Zvanaka, ZIRRCON General Secretary, notes "We fought for the land but once we got it the land was eroded. The traditional healers and tribal chiefs emphasize the war and bring back customs that were thrown away by white rule. The [Christian] Bishops look at our work as taking responsibility for the creation."

As with all wars, though, the ultimate objective of the war of the trees is peace.

Chief Murinye observes "there is a correlation between sins and drought. We need peace at all levels, peace within ourselves, and peace with the earth."