Q FM Africa's Modern Radio
Luapula Province Permanent Secretary Chanda Kasolo says the collection of data on forests plays an important role in reversing high levels of deforestation in the country.
Mr. Kasolo says the Integrated Land Use Assessment for example reveals that Zambia is losing over 250,000 hectares of forests per year hence the need to collect data that ensures well informed actions aimed at reducing deforestation.
He has observed that globally deforestation accounts for one-fifth of human-induced emissions of carbon dioxide, a scenario he says calls for concerted efforts which include collection of data in order to come up with effective tools to fight deforestation.
Mr. Kasolo says this is why data collection officers have been flagged off in the field in mansa.
He notes that integrated Land Use Assessment Programme Phase 2 IS in line with government’s policies on environmental and natural resources development as outlined in the Sixth National Development Plan (SNDP).