On 22 April 2026, the Centre for Natural Resource Governance (CNRG) joined the world in commemorating Earth Day 2026 under the theme “ Our Power, Our Planet.” On this Earth Day, the Centre for Natural Resource Governance (CNRG) stands with communities on the frontlines of environmental destruction to reaffirm a fundamental truth the health of the planet and the dignity of its people are inseparable.
We have spent over a decade defending communities in Zimbabwe’s resource-rich landscapes from the twin threats of ecological devastation and human rights violations. Today, as the world pauses to reflect on the state of our shared environment, CNRG calls for a new era of environmental peacebuilding one in which nature, communities and justice are restored together.
Environmental degradation is rarely a natural phenomenon it is a political one. In Zimbabwe’s mining-affected communities from Hwange to Marange, from Penhalonga to Chimanimani, communities continue to bear the costs of extraction while receiving little of its benefits. Land is seized, rivers are poisoned, forests are razed, and ancestral burial sites are desecrated to feed global demand for minerals.
This is not just an environmental crisis; it is a crisis of peace.
CNRG’s work in environmental peacebuilding recognises that lasting peace cannot be built on poisoned ground. By empowering communities through research, legal support and advocacy, CNRG helps transform conflict-ridden extractive landscapes into spaces of justice and restoration.
Zimbabwe sits atop some of the world’s most significant reserves of lithium, chrome, platinum, diamonds and other critical minerals materials the world urgently demands for the green energy transition. Yet this abundance has not translated into prosperity for host communities. Instead, the rush for critical minerals has accelerated land grabbing, water depletion and displacement. CNRG cautions that a clean energy future built on the suffering of Zimbabwean communities is neither just nor sustainable. On this Earth Day, CNRG calls on governments, corporations and international partners to ensure that the extraction of critical minerals adheres to the highest standards of environmental accountability, community consent and equitable benefit-sharing.
Furthermore, central to CNRG’s Earth Day message is the role of young people. Across Zimbabwe’s mining-scarred landscapes, CNRG is mobilising youth through the CNRG Youth Hub to lead community-driven reforestation and afforestation initiatives planting indigenous and commercially valuable trees in post-mining wastelands, along degraded riverbanks, and across communal lands.
These young environmental stewards are not merely planting trees; they are rebuilding food systems, restoring water catchments, reclaiming cultural landscapes and creating green enterprises through agroforestry, fruit nurseries and beekeeping. CNRG believes that Zimbabwe’s youth, armed with knowledge, networks and purpose, are the most powerful force for environmental recovery. Their energy, creativity and moral clarity are indispensable as Zimbabwe confronts the twin crises of extractive exploitation and climate change.
As CNRG marks Earth Day 2026, we renew our pledge to the communities we serve we will continue to stand with you, speak for you, and fight alongside you because justice for communities is justice for the Earth. The path to a healed planet runs through healed communities. This Earth Day, let us choose that path together.