Government has pledged to plant 60 million seedlings during the 2020/21 National Forestry Season.
The exercise will be achieved through each constituency, villages and household, according to the Minister of Forestry and Natural Resources, Nancy Tembo.
Tembo has since asked Malawians to actively participate in this year’s reforestation drive by planting more and take care of the trees they have planted now and before in order to ensure high rates of tree survival beyond the season.
The minister made the remarks in Liongwe on Monday afternoon when she updated the journalists on the preparations for the national launch of the 2020/21 National Forestry Season.
President Lazarus Chakwera is scheduled to officially launch the 2020-21 National Forestry Season on December 16, 2020, at a function to be held at Tukombo Full Primary School in Nkhata Bay.
“We are imploring all districts, villages, communities, institutions, every school, faith based institutions and household to plant more and more trees even beyond the tree planting season.
“Any occasion or event must be an opportunity for planting trees for the next generation to be assured of water, fish and biodiversity,” appealed Tembo.
The minister emphasized that the global village is in a crisis because of the degradation of landscapes through wanton cutting down of trees and over exploitation of land due to overpopulation.
She also observed that Malawi has become densely populated thereby causing damage and deforestation leading to forest catchment degradation.
“This is resulting into the drying of rivers, loss of forestry cover, climate change, loss of biodiversity including dwindling fish population. Trees and forests support the livelihoods of the vast majority of our people through the provision of timber and poles for construction, medicines, herbs, wild fruits and other products for nourishment,” she emphasized.
The National Forestry Season is a period set aside by Government, to build a responsible citizenry that cares for trees and forests for the sustenance of present and future generations.
Malawi is reportedly losing forest cover at an alarming rate of about 32,000 hectares (about one percent) every year.
According to recent reports, the major driver of this loss is tree cutting for charcoal and firewood, fuels which more than 90 percent of Malawian households use for domestic cooking and heating.
Other causes of forest degradation are agricultural expansion, human settlement and wild fires.