Minister leads tree planting at Area 18 interchange

Minister of Forestry and Natural Resources Nancy Tembo has urged people to plant and look after trees.

The minister also called on people to protect and manage natural regeneration and forests nationwide. 

Tembo made the call when she led a tree-planting exercise at the Area 18 Traffic Interchange in Lilongwe last week.

During the event, she also received a K10 million donation from the Press Trust towards the 2020-21 National Forestry Season.

“There is an urgent need among us to restore our forests and landscapes. We have cut down so many trees and if we do not do anything about the mess we have created, then we are heading for disaster. The world is moving together to avert disaster.

“Every school or community must have a woodlot. And the law is there that even on farmland, 10 percent should be trees,” said Tembo.

However, Press Trust chief executive officer Gibson Ngalamira expressed concern with the low survival rate of the trees that are planted annually.

“The trustees have given us K30 million this year to buy tree seedlings and assist communities. But our concern is the survival rate. It has been a huge problem, because we plant so many trees every year but not much change is seen in the areas we plant,” he said.

Ngalamira also noted that the forests that have been gazetted to be national forests in the country are being depleted at a high rate.

He said Press Trust is also working with the Malawi Defence Force officers deployed to help in conserving forests.