Wesm moves to restore birds in Nkhotakota

Wildlife and Environmental Society of Malawi (Wesm) has moved to restore the population of birds around Chia Lagoon on Lake Malawi in Nkhotakota District.

Speaking on Wednesday at the launch of a K312 million Chia Lagoon Water Bird Project in the district, Wesm programmes manager Blessings Chingagwe said they will help communities to protect birds.

She said when they looked up wetlands under the Department of National Parks and Wildlife, they noticed that Chia Lagoon is not gazetted as a protected area, as such, the bird species are vulnerable.

“The project will work with communities to better manage and restore the lagoon ecosystem, reverse decline in bird species and improve livelihoods in the communities,” said Chingagwe.

On her part, Nkhotakota district environmental officer Jane Kayira encouraged Wesm to work with other organisations with similar or related projects to benefit from existing structures for smooth implementation of the project.

She said using existing community structures ensures project sustainability because other partners are implementing a Fish for Tomorrow project in the area.

Communities around Chia Lagoon have since welcomed the project.

Geoffrey Manda, a resident, said it was important to preserve the birds at the lagoon for tourism attraction.

Wesm has been dedicated to protecting Malawi’s remarkable biodiversity and ecosystems for over 75 years.

With a support from the United Kingdom-based Dawn Initiative, the project will work with nine villages from traditional authorities Mwadzama, Kalimanjira and Nkhanga in the district.

Wesm will work with partners in the project, including Ministry of Natural Resources and Climate Change through the Department of Fisheries, Environmental Affairs, Ministry of Tourism through the Department of National Parks and Wildlife, Malawi University of Science and Technology, Micro Loan Foundation, African Parks and Ripple Africa.