Privacy Policy

This policy explains what this website collects, why, how long it is kept and what you can ask us to do about it. It covers forestry.co.zw only. It does not cover the separate website of the Zimbabwe College of Forestry, or any other site we link to.

Last updated: 14 October 2026. Adopted by the Forestry Commission of Zimbabwe.

Who we are

The Forestry Commission of Zimbabwe is a parastatal established under the Forest Act [Chapter 19:05], operating under the Ministry of Environment, Climate and Wildlife. For anything you send through this website, the Commission is the data controller — meaning we decide why it is collected and what happens to it.

Forestry Commission House, 1 Orange Grove Drive, Highlands, Harare, Zimbabwe
Telephone +263 242 496 438
Email info@forestry.co.zw

What we collect, and when

When you simply read the site

We do not use analytics, advertising or tracking of any kind. There is no Google Analytics on this site, no advertising pixel and no social media tracking script. We cannot tell who you are, and we do not build a profile of what you read.

Our hosting provider keeps standard server logs, which record the address of the computer making each request, the page asked for, the time, and the browser used. These are kept for the provider’s own security and troubleshooting and are not used to identify readers.

When you apply for a vacancy

If you apply for a post advertised on this site, we collect the information you type into the form and the file you attach:

• your name
• your email address
• your telephone number
• anything you write in the message box
• your curriculum vitae, as a file you upload

We use it for one purpose: to consider you for the post you applied for. It is seen by the Human Resources staff handling that vacancy and by the panel shortlisting for it. We do not sell it, share it with other organisations, or use it to contact you about anything else.

Uploaded CVs are stored in a part of the server that is closed to the public and cannot be reached by guessing a web address. When an application is deleted from our records, the CV file is deleted from the server with it.

When you search the site

What you type into the search box is used to find matching pages and is not stored against you.

Cookies

A cookie is a small file a website asks your browser to keep. This site uses very few, and none of them track you:

• Your cookie choice. When you answer the notice at the foot of the page, we store that answer for 180 days so we do not ask again on every visit. It holds nothing but the word “all” or “essential”.
• Signing in. If you are a member of Commission staff with an account here, WordPress sets session cookies while you are signed in. These are necessary for the dashboard to work and are not set for ordinary readers.

You can change your choice at any time using the Cookie settings link at the foot of every page, and you can delete these cookies through your browser’s settings.

Services that are not ours

Two parts of this site are served by other companies, and we tell you plainly because your browser contacts them directly:

• YouTube provides the video on our landing page and any video embedded in a page. We use YouTube’s privacy-enhanced mode, and the video is not loaded at all unless you accept cookies. If you choose “essential cookies only”, you will see a still image instead and nothing is sent to YouTube.
• Google Fonts supplies the two typefaces this site is set in. Your browser fetches them from Google’s servers, which means Google receives the address of the computer making that request. We are looking at serving these from our own server so that this stops.

The map on our Contact page is drawn from a file on our own server. It contacts nobody.

How long we keep things

• Job applications and CVs: [RETENTION PERIOD — e.g. 12 months after the post is filled], after which they are deleted unless you are appointed, in which case they become part of your personnel record.
• Your cookie choice: 180 days, or until you clear it.
• Server logs: as set by our hosting provider.

Keeping it safe

The whole site is served over an encrypted connection, so what you send cannot be read in transit. Access to the dashboard where applications are held is restricted to staff who need it, protected by individual accounts, and attempts to guess a password are blocked after a small number of tries.

No system is perfect. If we ever discover a breach affecting your information, we will act on it and notify those affected and the authorities as the law requires.

Your rights

Under the Cyber and Data Protection Act, 2021 [Chapter 12:07], you may ask us to:

• tell you what information we hold about you
• give you a copy of it
• correct anything that is wrong
• delete it, where we have no continuing reason to keep it
• stop using it for a particular purpose

Write to info@forestry.co.zw or to the postal address above, marked for the attention of the Data Protection Officer. We will reply within 14 days. There is no charge for a reasonable request.

If you are not satisfied with how we have handled your request, you may complain to the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ), which is the data protection authority under that Act.

Children

This site is written for the general public and is not aimed at children. We do not knowingly collect information from a child. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, tell us and we will remove it.

Changes to this policy

If we change what we collect or how we use it, we will change this page and update the date at the top. Material changes will be announced on the site.