Abstract

The need for Environmental Specimen Banking (ESB) in African countries, particularly in Zimbabwe, to store samples of various environmental matrices for future research, tracking and evaluating the environment's quality and health over time has become more urgent than ever. ESB is a long-term repository facility that stores samples of various environmental matrices, mainly including soil, sediment, and biota, for use in future research. ESB is crucial for environmental monitoring and research because they offer insightful information on past and present levels of contaminants in the environment and their effects on the environment and public health. Some countries in the developed and developing world have managed to monitor river pollution using ESB and Zimbabwe can learn from them. This paper analyses the various environmental challenges faced by Zimbabwe and shows how ESB can be one of the important tools during the monitoring of those issues based on a case study approach. Establishing ESB in Zimbabwe can play an important role of providing important data and information on environmental pollutants and the way they affect public health and the environment. This data will be vital in informing policies and regulations aimed at protecting human health and the environment. The archiving of specimen will ensure that the data will be available for future use.

Key words: Environmental specimen banking, environmental monitoring, Zimbabwe, Deka River pollution.