Mzimba Forestry Office hails new law on charcoal

Mzimba forestry officer Lifred Banda says the new law which forbids illegal charcoal burning has helped the district to control encroachment of forests and wanton cutting down of trees for charcoal production.

Speaking in an interview on Friday, he said he was impressed by how forestry officers, community leaders and other stakeholders such as police are enforcing the Forestry Act to ensure forests are protected.

“In 2022 we arrested and prosecuted 95 people involved in illegal charcoal production. As you are aware, the campaign against charcoal production is difficult because it is used for energy,” said Banda.

She commended the support from local leaders and Modern Cooking for Health Project and as well as an initiative to distribute briefs of the new Forestry Act to communities.

In a separate interview, Association of Environmental Journalists president Matthews Malata commended the Department of Forestry for enforcing the law and impounding vehicles for transporting charcoal.

However, he said there is need to empower law enforcers to understand what to do when dealing with such cases.

“Government should put more resources on the National Budget for law enforcement. The previous budget had only K22 million for Departments of Forestry for law enforcement,” said Malata.

In 2022/23 season, Mzimba District is expected to plant about nine million trees