Synod slams govt over Viphya Plantation
CCAP Synod of Livingstonia moderator, the Reverend John Gondwe has hit out at government for not doing enough to prevent depletion of trees in Viphya Plantation.
The moderator said this when the synod launched the 2018 tree-planting season at Chozoli Primary School in Rumphi on Saturday.
The synod plans to plant 50 000 trees this season, he said.
In his remarks, Gondwe asked government to put in place strategies to crack down on illegal logging and syndicates of private firms that deplete the man-made forest on the border between Mzimba and Nkhata Bay.
He said: “It is worrisome that as various organisations are making efforts to restore forest cover, government is not committed to preventing depletion of Viphya Forest.
“This is a sad scenario. Instead of totally banning continued cutting down of trees in the forest, Department of Forestry officials are issuing licences to private firms to continue harvesting the remaining trees.”
Gondwe added that there is nothing government can show to demonstrate its commitment to protect the hugely deforested plantation.
But director of forestry Clement Chilima said the plantation is recovering as government has put in place measures to curb illegal activities.
He said over 20 cases against illegal timber producers are in court.
“It is unfair to say we are doing nothing. We have closed the forest and only few firms under our tree harvest programme are active,” he said. n
