About Us
About Midlands Conservation and Sustainability Initiative
The Midlands Conservation and Sustainability Initiative (MCSI) is a non-profit and community-based environmental conservation organization, registered with the Government of Zimbabwe as a Private Voluntary Organization. The organization was founded in June 2025 by passionate local youth in the mining district of Shurugwi, in response to the severe environmental degradation and environmental injustices affecting communities across the Midlands Province of Zimbabwe.
MCSI works to promote environmental rights as enshrined in Section 73 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe by championing environmental protection, sustainable natural resource management, and climate resilience. Through a holistic approach, the organization advances good stewardship and the sustainable use of land, water, forests, and wetlands, while promoting environmentally responsible practices in mining and agriculture.
Our Journey
Midlands Conservation and Sustainability Initiative was founded by local youth who witnessed first-hand the environmental challenges caused by unsustainable mining practices, ecosystem degradation, pollution, and weak environmental governance in Shurugwi and surrounding areas.
Recognizing the need for community-driven solutions, MCSI was established to amplify community voices, promote environmental justice, and strengthen local capacity to protect and sustainably manage natural resources. Since its formation, the organization has focused on building a strong foundation grounded in research, advocacy, dialogue, and community empowerment, with a vision of restoring degraded ecosystems and fostering resilient, environmentally conscious communities across the Midlands Province.
Our Mission, Vision, and Core Values
Vision
Resilient communities thriving in a healthy, just and biodiverse environment.
Mission
To empower communities in Midlands to protect and sustainably manage natural resources through research, advocacy, capacity building and inclusive dialogue.
Core Values
- Innovation: Innovation is the engine of our organization.
- Environmental Consciousness: We are committed to building environmental consciousness across our communities, helping people understand the ecological and economic importance of our ecosystems.
- Stewardship: We are committed to good stewardship of all our resources as an organization and of our natural resources as a community.
- Fairness: We strive to be fair to all our stakeholders, and to fight environmental injustice in our communities.
- Professionalism: We uphold top tier professionalism in all our conduct and operations.
- Excellence: We strive for excellence and lasting impact.
- Teamwork: At MCSI we work as a team, leveraging each other’s expertise for maximum impact.
- To promote sustainable livelihoods and production
- To enhance environmental governance and justice
- To enhance climate resilience and community empowerment
Who We Serve
MCSI works with a wide range of stakeholders committed to environmental protection and sustainability, including local communities affected by environmental degradation, youth and community-based groups, small-scale farmers and artisanal miners, civil society organizations, development partners, researchers, environmental advocates, government institutions, and traditional leadership structures.
Through inclusive engagement, MCSI ensures that community voices remain central to environmental decision-making processes.
Our Team
MCSI is guided by a dedicated Board and led by a passionate Executive Director who oversees the day-to-day operations of the organization. Together, they provide strategic leadership, governance oversight, and operational direction to ensure the organization fulfils its mission and objectives.
Mvuselelo Huni
Board Chairperson
Tawanda Pesanayi
Board Member
Tawanda Pesanayi is an International development and evaluation expert with over 18 years of multicultural and inclusive experience designing, implementing, and evaluating projects, programs, and policies for international development cooperation. Key skills include strategic planning, team leading, project design, management, monitoring, and evaluation, institutional strengthening and capacity building. He holds a Master of Public Administration from the UNICAF University in Zambia, a Master of Arts in Development Studies, a BSc Honours in Geography and Environmental Studies from the Midlands State University and a BSc Honours in Monitoring and Evaluation from the Lupane State University. With a passion for tracking achievements in Conservation, he brings in years of experience leading monitoring and evaluation (M&E) activities including strategic planning, performance and adaptive management. He is currently a MEL Specialist with Wildlife Conservation Action and is also serving as the M&E Expert for the ICARS project on One Health.
Kudakwashe Munemo
Board Member
Kudakwashe is a finance expert with over 9 years’ experience in financial management. He has also worked in policy research and analysis, knowledge management and documentation, coordination of Community Based Organisations (CBOs), organizational strategy development and related areas. Currently he works at the Institute for Young Women’s Development (IYWD).
Tombizodwa Revesayi
Board Member
Tombizodwa is an education and health specialist with over 22 years of experience in the NGO sector, designing and implementing high impact health related programs and projects. She holds a Masters Degree in Development Studies, a Bachelor’s Degree in English and Communication and a Diploma in Education. She currently works as an Education Specialist at the Apostolic Women Empowerment Trust (AWET).
Kudakwashe Ncube
Board Member
Kudakwashe is an accomplished Environmental Engineer, with over 7 years experience in the public, private and NGO sectors. He holds a Masters Degree in Environmental Engineering from Bandung Institute of Technology (Indonesia) and a Bachelors Degree in Environmental Engineering from Chinhoyi University of Technology. He is currently working at WWF Zimbabwe at the intersection of Climate change, Circular economy and Policy, Conservation and Sustainable development. He also is active in Youth Engagement and Community Development from Grassroots to Global platform.
Cinderella Ndlovu
Board Member
Cinderella is an Environmental Engineer who holds a Bachelors degree in Environmental Science and a Masters Degree in Chemical and Environmental Process Engineering. She is also a greenhouse gas inventory compiler for Zimbabwe, specializing in the waste sector and communications to the UNFCCC for NDCs particularly in NDC tracking in the waste sector. She is the current Director for GreenHut, an organization she founded.
Pardon Machocho
Board Member
Pardon is a marketing and communications practitioner who holds a Bachelors Degree in English and Communication and Diplomas in public relations and marketing as well as short courses in mining and entrepreneurship. He is the Executive Director of Shurugwi Residents and Ratepayers Association (SHRRA).
Lawrence K. Makaure
Founder and Executive Director
Lawrence is a sustainability leader and development practitioner committed to advancing environmental conservation, socio-environmental justice, economic empowerment, and climate action. He possesses valuable hands-on experience in implementing grassroots initiatives, working directly with communities to promote sustainable livelihoods and inclusive development.
He served on the second Team Europe Youth Sounding Board for Zimbabwe from July 2023 to March 2026, where he was the Green Economic Growth Chairperson of the Board. He is also a 2025 WWF-Amano Fellowship Alumnus.
Lawrence holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Development Studies from Midlands State University (MSU) and an Executive Certificate in Humanitarian Assistance and Programme Management from the University of Zimbabwe (UZ).
Learn More or Get Involved
Environmental conservation and sustainability require collective effort. Whether you are a community member, development partner, researcher, or advocate, your participation matters.
Join Midlands Conservation and Sustainability Initiative in promoting environmental protection, strengthening climate resilience, and advancing environmental justice across the Midlands Province and beyond.