In many parts of rural Zimbabwe, wetlands are the thin green lines that keep entire communities alive. They store water, regulate floods, recharge rivers, and provide fertile soils for food production. Yet for decades, these fragile ecosystems have been treated as open land for cultivation, grazing and settlement, slowly being pushed to collapse. As climate change tightens its grip through prolonged droughts and unpredictable rainfall, the degradation of wetlands has become not just an environmental issue, but a direct threat to livelihoods, food security and survival.
Against this backdrop, the Southern Alliance for Indigenous Resources (SAFIRE) has embarked on one of Zimbabwe's most ambitious community-driven efforts to restore damaged wetlands and the ecosystems that depend on them. Working mainly in the country's arid lowveld and other climate-vulnerable regions, SAFIRE's approach goes far beyond conservation for its own sake. It links ecosystem restoration to income, food, and dignity, ensuring that people see value in protecting the landscapes that sustain them.
Founded in 1994, SAFIRE operates across Manicaland, Masvingo and Matabeleland South provinces, where low and erratic rainfall, droughts and floods have become part of everyday life. Its work focuses on ecosystem restoration, sustainable agriculture, clean energy and nature-based enterprises, including honey, baobab, marula and mopane worms, which together benefit more than 33,000 households. To date, SAFIRE has supported the planting of more than 597,000 trees while protecting wetlands and degraded lands that are critical to climate resilience
In many rural districts, wetlands were once the backbone of agriculture, providing moisture even when the rains failed. Over time, however, population pressure and poverty pushed farmers onto these fragile lands. Vegetation was cleared, water channels were disturbed, and soils were compacted, leaving wetlands unable to store and slowly release water. What followed was a vicious cycle of drying, crop failure and deeper poverty.
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SAFIRE's response has been to reverse that cycle through ecosystem-based adaptation - a method that uses nature itself as a shield against climate change. Wetlands are fenced and protected from overuse, allowing vegetation and water flows to recover. At the same time, communities are supported with alternative livelihood options so that conservation does not mean hunger.
One of the clearest examples of this approach can be found at Romorehoto Wetland, where years of overuse had left the ecosystem badly degraded. After the wetland was placed under community protection, it rebounded quickly, becoming a reliable water source once again. From that recovery emerged new economic opportunities, including aquaculture and small-scale irrigation.
For farmer Philip Mutudza, the restored wetland changed everything. Once entirely dependent on rainfall, he had watched his harvests and income shrink as droughts grew longer and more severe. With access to water from Romorehoto, Philip built two fish ponds at his homestead, stocked with fingerlings from the community project. He now expects to harvest fish twice a year, with each cycle projected to earn more than USD 2,000, while also supplying protein for his family of six.
The system is circular and regenerative. Nutrient-rich pond water is diverted into his vegetable garden, boosting soil fertility and supporting crops such as maize and leafy greens. Instead of exhausting the land, the wetland and the ponds are now restoring it.
Philip has also adopted Farmer-Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR), a technique that allows indigenous trees to regrow from existing root systems. By protecting and pruning these natural woodlots, he has increased biodiversity, secured a sustainable supply of firewood and fodder, and reduced pressure on nearby forests.
"FMNR has put me in control of my land," he says. "I now see my land as an asset to be managed, not a resource to be exhausted."
Further east in Mutasa District, SAFIRE's restoration work has taken on a different but equally powerful form. Tawanda Bukuta, a 41-year-old farmer from Ward 12, used to survive on less than USD 100 a month, relying on rain-fed crops grown on degraded soils. When SAFIRE introduced the Zimbabwe Forest Restoration Project, he was among the few farmers willing to try something new.
He received training in standardised silviculture and advanced nursery management, along with shade nets and potting materials. His nursery soon became a model for the area, producing high-quality fruit tree seedlings. This success inspired 60 other farmers to form the Bonda Fruit Tree Orchards and Nursery Group, with Tawanda emerging as a local resource person.
Today, his six-hectare homestead is a thriving agroforestry enterprise, with 2,000 peach trees interplanted with indigenous riverine species such as acacia, muonde and mukute. These trees stabilise soils, improve water retention and rebuild local ecosystems. At the same time, his income has risen to about USD 1,500 per month, allowing him to meet his family's needs with dignity.
"I have learned the importance of protecting and nurturing our forests," Tawanda says. "There is life in these ecosystems."
In Buhera's Zivei community, wetland and riverine restoration has gone hand in hand with women's empowerment. For years, farmers cultivated crops directly along stream banks, stripping away protective vegetation and accelerating erosion. The practice delivered short-term food but steadily destroyed the river system that made farming possible.
Working with local authorities, SAFIRE helped 49 farmers relocate from riverbanks and established a one-hectare solar-powered community garden. Clean energy micro-irrigation now provides reliable water, while indigenous trees are being planted to restore degraded stream areas. Training in climate-smart agriculture, particularly soil-conserving legumes and small grains, has ensured that productivity does not come at the cost of the ecosystem.
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Forty-eight women now manage the garden, producing vegetables and staple crops without harming the river. As pressure on the riverbanks has eased, natural vegetation has begun to recover, stabilising soils and protecting water quality.
"Before, we were just eager to feed our families, even though it meant putting our rivers at risk," says Tanaka Chitumbura. "Now we know we can benefit from our land without destroying it."
SAFIRE's wetlands work shows that environmental restoration and economic development do not have to be in conflict. By combining wetland protection, reforestation, climate-smart agriculture and nature-based enterprises, the organisation is building a model of rural resilience that speaks directly to Zimbabwe's climate reality.
With droughts, floods and rising temperatures becoming the new normal, wetlands are no longer just patches of marshy land. They are natural infrastructure - storing water, buffering communities against climate shocks and sustaining food systems. Through its community-centred approach, SAFIRE is proving that when people are given the tools to manage and benefit from their ecosystems, conservation becomes not an obligation, but a pathway to prosperity.
