Wesm revives Blantyre wildlife clubs

Blantyre Urban District Education Office and the Wildlife and Environmental Society of Malawi (Wesm) have embarked on reviving primary schools’ wildlife clubs disrupted by Covid-19.

Recently, the initiative convened teachers and club patrons from the city’s 62 primary schools to refocus on wildlife club operations in the wake of the new normal caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The meeting brought together 62 headteachers, 62 matrons and patrons as well as 15 primary education advisers to discuss challenges and successes in wildlife conservation.

Blantyre Urban coordinating primary education adviser MacArthur Khumbanyiwa said: “We expect to see the impact in all 62 primary schools. Everyone should take wildlife conservation as a serious extra-curricular activity in their schools.” He said Blantyre City has suffered devastating impacts of climate change, including cyclones, hailstorms and

more trees. When they see wild animals, they should not just kill them anyhow,” said Khumbanyiwa.

He said the district education manager will establish wildlife club committees in all education zones to increase coordination.

Wesm environmental education manager Oswald Bonongwe said the initiative was timely as wildlife clubs in most schools suffered a major blow amid the global pandemic that forced the government to close all schools to reduce Covid-19 transmission.

As children were required to stay home and avoid crowded settings, extra-curricular activities, including wildlife clubs, were disrupted.

“We are taking stock from where we stopped. What lessons should we learn and how should we move forward?” he says. “As such, the meeting is an opportunity to advance the conservation agenda in a landscape greatly changed by the Covid-19 pandemic. We need to find new ways of dealing with shifting issues.”

During the meeting, the wildlife club stewards were trained in club management, climate change and disaster risk reduction management.

Wesm was established 70 years ago to protect Malawi’s biodiversity and ecosystems.

The society has nine branches spread across the country.