KK chief wants soldiers to guard forests

Principal group village head Yimbe of Senior Chief Mwadzama in Nkhotakota has asked government to send soldiers to his area to protect forests.

The chief, who represented Senior Chief Mwadzama, made the call on Thursday at an awareness meeting on illegal charcoal production which the Forestry Department jointly organised with Total Land Care [TLC].

He said with deforestation threatening the area’s water supply, government should send soldiers to arrest loggers and confiscate equipment.

“Having been banned from Dzalanyama Forest Reserve, charcoal producers have now turned to our area. But we cannot sit back and watch our forests being destroyed by these people.

“We have tried to put measures in place to contain the situation, but it is getting out of hand each day. Therefore, we ask government to deploy the army to conduct patrols in our forests,” Yimbe said.

During the meeting, it also transpired that low participation of communities in forest management and lack of knowledge on land tenure and free ownership have led to widespread destruction of forests.

In an interview after the meeting, Nkhotakota District Council director of planning and development Michael Chimbalanga said he was not pleased with the rate at which forests are being depleted, stressing that a bold decision has to be taken. n