Depoliticise forest conservation

Malawi has one of the highest losses of forest cover in southern Africa.

This is not news, but a line repeatedly recited by both policymakers and conservationists.

Where are we getting it wrong?

In recent years, the country has been hit by numerous natural disasters, including Cyclone Freddy which affected 2.2 million people in March this year.

The major cause is loss of forests throughout the country’s political history.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, 34.4 percent or about 3.2 million hectares (ha) of the country’s territory is forested.

Some 29 percent of this, about 934 000 ha, are primary forest.

Some 365 000 ha is covered with planted forest.

It is reported that the country lost about 32 950 ha of its forested territory between 1990 and 2010.

Between 1990 and 2010, Malawi lost 659 000ha, about 17 percent of its forests.

This deforestation trend is related to political trends.

Before independence, forest reserves were constituted without respect of users’ rights and native interests.

The colonial government launched communal forest schemes by creating village forest areas (VFAs) through the Department of Forestry.

In 1940, the VFA covered 69 000ha for local use.

Shortly after independence, the department’s attention shifted towards establishing industrial plantations for timber self-sufficiency.

As a result, vast village forests were cleared and VFAs declined from more than 5 000ha in 1964 to 1 200ha in 1985.

To recover from this loss, government embarked on the national tree planting programme focusing on fast-growing exotic species and bonuses for the initiative in rural areas.

Before the restoration of democracy in 1993, the Forestry Department took over forested customary land from the local councils.

The department was under pressure to generate more revenue for the State amid surging demand for timber, firewood and crop fields.

The first five years of multiparty democracy were characterised by euphoria, worsening illegal logging in  timber plantations and deforestation through charcoal production on both private and customary land.

Due to the restructuring process in the public service, massive layoffs of general workers occurred, particularly in the forest plantations.

This resulted in an inadequate management amid frequent fire incidences and massive logging.

To reverse the trend, government and its partners formed village natural resources management committees (VNRMCs) to revive the village-based approach.

They also provided forest management training to the committees.

The National Forest Policy and the Forestry Act of 1996 give local people full ownership of trees grown and managed by them on customary land.

Malawi has the necessary policy and legal instruments for effective forest and tree management.

Several issues impinge sustainable forest management in Malawi despite the existence of a robust policy, laws, strategies, programmes and guidelines by both Government and its partners.

They include the failure to implement the forestry policy, political interference, corruption, poor local governance, weak leadership and inadequate funding.

These factors constitute major drivers of deforestation and forest degradation in Malawi.

Between 1972 and 1992, the country’s forest cover fell from 47 percent of total land cover to 20 percent or about 2.5ha of both indigenous and plantation forest.

The current deforestation rate translate to an estimated annual average loss of 30 000 to 40 000ha of lost forest cover—the highest in southern Africa.

As such, there is an urgent need to halt and reverse deforestation and forest degradation while providing alternatives for sustainable livelihoods and economic development for the people of Malawi.

This hinges on effective policy implementation, forest land recovery, accurate survival rates of planted trees, finding alternative energy sources, establishing forest on tobacco estates.

There is also a need to regulate the use of burnt red bricks, promote individual ownership of tree planting and management, reduce population growth and ramp up forest conservation beyond graveyards.