While the enchanting Nyika National Park has beckoned hundreds of tourists beyond Malawi for decades, invasive plants are smothering vegetation native to the picturesque grasslands and woodlands.
The alien plants include pines, black wattle and raspberry.
British colonial masters introduced them in 1958 for firewood and as a windshield to the plateau’s biting cold weather.
However, environmental experts are worried that the imported green cover has become hostile to the country largest national park located in Rumphi District.
Environmental Affairs Department chief environment officer Boniface Chimwaza says the self-sown plants have aggressively spread, shrinking the area where zebras, antelopes and other wildlife graze.
“It’s a serious problem,” he says. “Pines initially covered 250 hectares, but have since spread to over 500 hectares.
According to the environmentalist, pine harms a diversity of living things by making soils too acidic for other plants and wildlife to flourish.
Similarly, he states, black wattle and raspberry are also spreading, replacing native species and reducing the water bodies.
“Also worrisome is bracken fern. Though native, it is also spreading fast and disrupting the park’s ecosystem services,” Chimwaza says.
The Environmental Management Act of 2017 calls for reductions in the spread and harm of these hostile species.
The law requires land owners to report and participate in eradicating the threat of invasive living things.
In 2018, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Climate Change launched a project to identify and tackle invasive alien species.
The five-year initiative sponsored by the Global Environment Fund through the United Nations Environment Programme ends this year.
It has unearthed various ways to effectively remove harmful species from protected areas and surrounding farmlands.
The focal areas include Mulanje Mountain Forest Reserve and Nyika National Park.
“We are trying to prevent and reduce invasive species, knowing that they have negative effect on the environment, economy and the society,” says Chimwaza.
Nyika’s National Park senior research officer Edson Sichali is part of the team cutting, de-barking and uprooting the trees to figure out the severity of the problems and the possible solutions.
They also apply chemicals to the seed banks.
“Currently, with various partners, we are conducting a management plan to determine which areas should be cut down or left out. We cannot cut down all the trees in the park because of the cold weather,” he says.
Sichali hopes removing the foreign invaders will allow natural grass suitable for game to sprout in areas where fast-spreading pines and black wattle “are altering the beauty of the plateau”.
Bracken fern has become a concern beyond the postcard national park.
Surrounding communities, particularly Ntchenachena and Lura areas in Traditional Authority Mwalweni, are under siege.
Ntchenachena Extension Planning Area agriculture extension development coordinator Dumisani Chipeta says the food security of 2 500 out of 7352 households in the area have been affected by the invasive ferns.
Village head Kasalamba says the alien plant has been a thorn in the flesh for most farmers.
“They multiply quickly like banana suckers,” he says. “They grow fast and shade crops such as maize, potatoes and legumes.”
Total Land Care, a non-governmental organisation involved in the war on invasive species, trained farmers to tackle the challenge.
Kasalamba states: “We dig the roots up and burn them, then use the ash as manure for our crops.
“However, we mix it with Mbeya fertiliser for high yields.”
Total Land Care extension worker Mapopa Chumachiyenda says trials to determine the effects of bracken fern ash on maize production have proved their potential to boost crop yields in barren fields amid climate change.
“Through these trials, we’ve discovered that bracken fern ash contains elements essential for the vegetative growth of maize. The higher the quantity of ash, the more the impact,” he states.
The discovery prompted Mbanganiko Msiska, 53, of Kalimbaweya Village in Ntchenachena to uproot ferns from his compound for manure.
“My family harvests 40 bags from a 1.5-acre maize field that once produced 30 bags using chemical fertiliser,” he says.
Chipeta is optimistic about winning the war against the invasive native species, hunger and poverty beyond the project’s span.
“We will continue searching for the ferns beyond the hills and valleys of Ntchenachena and Lura areas,” he says.
Lilongwe Wildlife Trust campaigns manager Samantha Nampuntha says invasive species pose a threat to biodiversity though public awareness remains low.
“We are working to simplify an invasive species module for students and communities in the country can use,” she says.
