The African Institute of Corporate Citizenship (AICC), an international non-governmental organisation, on Friday pioneered a tree planting movement at Sankhani Primary School in Traditional Authority (T/A) Njewa, Lilongwe where it plans to plant 1 000 trees.
AICC’s governance programmes manager Jeff Kabongo said his organisation was promoting corporate partnerships in agriculture and business.
“As an NGO, we want to create a conducive business environment that is sustainable. In business, companies use resources that affect the environment. For instance, tobacco uses firewood for curing,” Kabongo said.
He explained that it was everyone’s responsibility to look after trees because they play an important role in environmental conservation.
In her remarks, Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining Yanira Mtupanyama, said the tree planting season started in December and will end in April this year. She said her ministry expected each citizen to plant a tree.
According to her, the ministry is advocating the use of clean stoves which are environmentally friendly.
“Clean stoves use less firewood compared to charcoal. For instance, firewood from a 10-year-old-tree can be used by many households whereas charcoal can be used by a handful of households. In addition, firewood is economical,” she said.
Mtupanyama added that floods, such as have been experienced in the country recently, are a result of deforestation.
