Zimbabwe National Water Authority

Abstract Zimbabwe’s tropical dry forests have experienced persistent deforestation with measurable climatic consequences. We assemble a harmonised national dataset that integrates Landsat forest-cover change, ERA5 near surface meteorology, and MODIS Terra NDVI for 2001–2024, and develop a spatio statistical pipeline that aligns gridded series to districts and provinces, constructs baseline anomalies, and estimates deforestation sensitivities using monthly two way fixed effects and annual mixed effects. We derive a biophysical exposure proxy from vegetation and surface energy components, and we propagate this choice transparently through all figures and tables. The monthly panel identifies a robust thermal signature, with positive temperature anomalies per unit exposure, and a coherent re partitioning of surface energy from latent to sensible heat consistent with suppressed evapotranspiration and enhanced turbulent heating. Annual mixed effects confirm a strong energy balance signal and show a positive association with precipitation anomalies in the national aggregate, while spatial diagnostics reject spatial randomness and reveal pronounced clustering for hydrological sensitivity at the province scale. We translate district level sensitivities into scenario maps for user specified exposure changes, enabling direct policy interpretation at administrative scales. The contribution is methodological and applied: a reproducible end to end pipeline that couples hierarchical and panel estimators with spatial diagnostics and scenario translation, and empirical evidence that clarifies where and how the climatic footprint of deforestation manifests across Zimbabwe’s heterogeneous regions.

ABSTRACTPurposeTobacco smoking is a major driver of chronic disease, and e‐cigarette use is increasingly common, yet their associations with prescribed medication burden remain unclear.MethodsWe analysed data from 1657 adults aged ≥ 16 years who completed a nurse visit in the Health Survey for England 2021. Smoking and e‐cigarette status were categorized into four mutually exclusive groups: never users, current smokers, current exclusive e‐cigarette users, and ex‐smokers. Prescribed medication use in the past 7 days was verified by nurses and grouped into seven BNF‐based therapeutic categories: cardiovascular, metabolic, respiratory, pain and anti‐inflammatory, gastrointestinal, mental health, and anti‐infectives. Overall, medication burden was categorized as none, one, two, or three or more prescribed medicines. Generalized ordered logistic regression estimated associations with overall burden, and Firth penalized logistic regression examined therapeutic categories, adjusting for age, sex, education, and area‐level deprivation. Sensitivity analyses restricted the sample to adults aged ≥ 45 years.ResultsEx‐smokers reported the highest medication burden, with 20.3% prescribed three or more medicines compared with 8.6% of never users, 10.9% of current smokers, and 12.2% of current e‐cigarette users (p < 0.001). In adjusted analyses using never users as the reference group, ex‐smokers had significantly greater odds of higher overall burden (OR = 1.50, 95% CI: 1.21–1.87, p < 0.001). Current smokers (OR = 0.86, 95% CI: 0.60–1.24, p = 0.42) and e‐cigarette users (OR = 1.63, 95% CI: 0.93–2.83, p = 0.09) did not differ significantly from never users. By therapeutic category, current e‐cigarette users, compared with never users, had higher odds of pain and anti‐inflammatory medication use (OR = 3.61, 95% CI: 1.70–7.67, p = 0.001). Ex‐smokers, relative to never users, also had elevated odds of respiratory (OR = 1.72, 95% CI: 1.17–2.55, p = 0.006), gastrointestinal (OR = 1.56, 95% CI: 1.17–2.07, p = 0.002), and anti‐infective prescriptions (OR = 3.32, 95% CI: 1.63–6.79, p = 0.001). Sensitivity analyses restricting to those aged ≥ 45 years produced consistent results.ConclusionsEx‐smokers had the highest medication burden compared with never users, which may partly reflect reverse causation, whereby illness and associated treatment prompt smoking cessation, though residual effects of prior smoking cannot be excluded. Current smokers showed no significant excess burden, possibly due to a “healthy smoker” effect, and e‐cigarette use was not associated with overall burden compared with never users, although it was linked to greater use of pain and anti‐inflammatory medicines.

The study investigated wild animal-livestock interaction on subsistence livestock production in Sai Community around Sengwa Wildlife Research Area (SWRA), Gokwe South. Face to face interviews with household members from five villages (i.e. Gava, Chitita, Siamwanja, Muchoni and Chirevereve) were done. A total of 80 households, consisting of 16 participants per village, were selected from total of 435 households. Three key informants from local government departments were also purposively selected. Secondary data relating to livestock predation and disease outbreak for the period October, 2021 to September, 2022 was utilised from key informant records. Hyenas, leopards, bat-eared foxes, black- backed jackals, and baboons were reported to prey on livestock. Household interviews results perceived buffaloes and bat-eared fox as associated with disease transmission to livestock. Forage and water availability were listed as drivers to wild animal-livestock interactions in the study area (n = 80) while open park boundary facilitate easy passage by both livestock and wild animals to the other side. There was no statistically significant seasonal difference in livestock losses between wet and dry. The general perception from participants was that wild animal-livestock interactions may reduce livestock production at household level in the study area. The study recommends use of physical barriers like fencing to restrict wild animal-livestock direct interaction based on findings from both perception and record analysis.

Human-Wildlife Conflicts (HWC) are common challenges in communal areas adjacent to protected areas. The objectives of the study were to: (i) determine the key depredated domestic animals over five years, (ii) determine the key wildlife species causing HWC, trends in conflicts and the nature of HWC and (iii) establish management measures employed to minimise HWCs. Secondary data was collected from seven (7) protected areas and three (3) rural district council areas’ annual reports. The data were obtained from field reports between January 2017 and December 2021. Goats (Capra aegagrus hircus) 512 (47%) and cattle (Bos taurus) 409 (38%) were the main domestic animals depredated by wildlife. The study showed that out of the five (5) species involved in the conflicts, the top two (2) species reported were lions (Panthera leo) and hyenas (Crocuta crocuta). To mitigate HWC in the study area, a multi-action approach has been proposed.

Background and Research Aims: Invasive alien plants pose significant ecological and social threats to native ecosystems and biodiversity. However, there is a growing recognition of potential opportunities to mitigate their negative impacts and generate revenue for conservation efforts. This study uses the Nyanga National Park in Zimbabwe as a case to explore leveraging invasive alien plants to generate revenue for conservation work. Methods: We collected data from 2015 to 2023 to analyze the contribution of timber from invasive alien plants to overall revenue in the context of conservation efforts. Results: The results indicate that timber from invasive alien plants is crucial to overall revenue, with a mean annual contribution of USD 150,000. The mean revenue share was found to be 33.2%, with a maximum of 50.1% during the assessed period. Implications for Conservation: This approach has the potential to generate significant revenue for conservation, turning an ecological issue into an opportunity. Given the financial constraints that protected areas often face, it could provide a quick way to raise funds and co-finance conservation efforts. However, this practice may also compromise environmental goals. We recommend specific action areas for practitioners to consider to minimize the negative impacts of invasive alien woody species. It is essential to acknowledge the real-world situations in areas affected by these species and to consider innovative adaptation strategies. Our report highlights the practice of harvesting invasive alien plants in a protected area that received little financial support for conservation operations, offering practical insights from real-world experiences.

Observations in the Zambezi Valley indicate vegetation loss caused by wildlife, mainly elephants, and natural vegetation die-offs. The main objective of the study was to assess vegetation trend changes and assess any significant changes in vegetation diversity. Sixty sampling sites were established from 20 road transects which were surveyed in November 2020. Landsat satellite data was accessed and Earth Resources Data Analysis System (ERDAS) was used in image processing. Classified images were imported to Terrset software for time series. The study shows different vegetation successions between 1985 and 2020. The succession order was mainly from bare areas to grassland, grassland to bushes and scrubs and finally to trees. There was a significant negative relationship between woodland coverage area and grassland coverage: n (8) r = ‒0.967 p < 0.01. The density of felled/dead trees was negatively correlated with the density of emerging trees (r = 0.442, n = 20 transects, p < 0.01). The savannah ecosystem demonstrates the ability to rejuvenate itself due to different successions over time. The study recommends close monitoring of elephants large mammals considering their capability to alter vegetation structure and composition.

Amphistomosis is a poorly understood trematode disease of domestic and wild ruminants whose effect has been underestimated. To date, there is limited information on the taxonomic status of amphistome species, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa which is home to diverse species infecting domestic and wild ruminants. In view of this, a survey was conducted in wildlife conservancies and national parks located in Beitbridge, Nyamandlovu, and Hwange in the Matebeleland region of Zimbabwe during the 2019-2021 game hunting seasons. Gastrointestinal tract of 329 carcasses of wild ruminants were examined for amphistome infections and 33/329 (10%) of the animals were infected and the highest prevalence per locality was in Hwange (35%; 7/20). A high prevalence of 63% was recorded in Kobus ellipsiprymnus (waterbuck) from Beitbridge, accompanied with a high parasitic burden of more than 10000 parasites per animal. The lowest parasitic burden was observed in Connochaetes taurinus taurinus (blue wildebeest) and Hippotragus niger (sable), each with less than 10 amphistomes. A total of 86 amphistome specimens from Syncerus caffer (African buffalo) (n=27), Aepyceros melampus (impala) (n=17), Tragelaphus strepsiceros (kudu) (n=16), waterbuck (n=10), sable (n=7), Redunca arundinum (reedbuck) (n=7), and Connochaetes taurinus taurinus (blue wildebeest) (n=2) were randomly selected for morphological and molecular identification. Using a combination of both histological technique and ITS-2 rDNA marker, the following seven amphistome species were identified; Leiperocotyle (L.) gretillati, Calicophoron (C.) microbothrium, C. raja, C. clavula, C. phillerouxi, Gigantocotyle (Gi.) symmeri, and Gastrothylax (G.) crumenifer which are pouched amphistome species. Orthocoelium dicranocoelium identification was based on morphological characters only. Although the ITS-2 is a widely used marker, it may not be useful in discriminating cryptic species in the Calicophoron genus. Orthocoelium (O.) dicranocoelium, G. crumenifer and L. gretillati are first records in wild ruminants in Zimbabwe.

This article explores the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on society through the lens of technological determinism and singularity theories. Technological determinism is the notion that technology shapes and controls society and human behaviour. Singularity is a theory that asserts that AI has already become a million times smarter than humans and can self-improve beyond what humans first taught AI applications and machines. The Singularity Theory predicts an intelligence explosion from Artificial General Intelligence soon, in which humans are likely to lose the dominion that they have enjoyed since creation, millions of years ago. AI, in its generative and autonomous or selfimproving state or form, may lead to the automation of many tasks currently performed by humans. This could lead to both benefits and challenges, such as increased efficiency but also job losses. In addition, the article discusses the impact of AI on privacy and raises ethical concerns about the potential misuse when in the hands of bad people. It also discusses ways to ensure that AI is used responsibly and beneficially. This includes governmental authorities developing ethical guidelines for AI development and implementation and ensuring that AI systems are safe, transparent and accountable.