Biodiversity declining in Lake Chirwa basin—report

Rapid population growth is said to have contributed greatly to the decline in biodiversity in the Lake Chilwa basin, a report by the Civil Society Network on Climate Change (Cisonecc) has revealed.

The baseline report titled The Nexus Between Biodiversity Conservation and Development in the Lake Chilwa Basin, was shared to stakeholders in Mponela, Dowa on Thursday during a National Stakeholders Dialogue on Biodiversity Conservation and Natural Resources Management, for validation and enhanced collaboration among conservation and development actors.

It reveals between 2008 and 2018, the population of the basin has increased from approximately 1.5 million to two million and over the same period.

This is said to have increased pressure and exploitation on biodiversity, thereby exacerbating poverty given the central role that the resources play in the livelihoods of basin communities.

Reads the report in part:  “Women, children, people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups have suffered the hardest from biodiversity loss, and the resultant brunt of poverty.”

Reacting to the findings, Cisonecc in partnership from Trocaire Malawi, Churches Action in Relief and Development and the World Agroforestry Centre is implementing a four-year Community-led Planning and Management for Biodiversity Protection and Resilient Communities projects in the Catchment Area of Lake Chilwa.

Cisonecc national coordinator Julius Ng’oma said the study showed that opportunities still exist in terms of conservation of the basin.

“The threat to biodiversity is real. But we have seen so many changes in biodiversity over the years, man wants to utilise forests, land, water resources for the benefit of his own,” he said.

Malawi Environment Protection Authority director general Michael Makonombera called for need to safeguard biodiversity as it is critical for human life.