Cisonecc supports community forests regeneration drive
The Civil Society Network on Climate Change (Cisonecc) is equipping Lilongwe communities with tree seedlings and watering canes to enhance their forest regeneration drive.
The organisation yesterday donated the materials to some villages in Traditional Authorities Tsabango and Kabudula.
This is part of a project which Cisonecc in collaboration with Centre for Environmental Policy and Advocacy (CEPA) is implementing in the country.
Supported by the European Union, the project is called Promoting Equitable Access to Clean Energy and currently being implemented in Salima district and peri-urban areas of Lilongwe and Blantyre.
The initiative seeks, among others, to raise community awareness on the importance of trees in climate change mitigation.
Presenting the donation which also included seedlings plastic bags, Cisonecc programs manager Ruth Likambale said the benefiting communities have already shown serious commitment towards environment restoration and conversation.
She therefore said the materials are designated to compliment their efforts.
Receiving the materials, T/A Tsabango based Group Village Headman Nyemba said lack of seedlings and watering canes have mostly hindered their bid to restore forests.
“This donation therefore means a lot to us. I am very optimistic that there is going to be great transformation in our forests,” he said.
T/A Tsabango forestry officer Flossy Sajiwa expressed commitment to ensure that communities protect the woodlots once the trees are planted.
“We will empower them with skills and knowledge on how to take of them. Our mission is to ensure that these areas are thoroughly covered with trees,” she said.
On his part, village headman Matwale of T/A Kabudula said their main focus will be to protect the trees once they are planted.
“We thank Cisonecc for the donation because it has given us a starting point. We literally had no materials to start off.
“What is critical on my part as a chief is to ensure that we take care of the trees. Deforestation has exposed us to harsh weathers and we don’t want to continue suffering,” the chief, a self acclaimed environmental advocate, said.
