Racers concerned with the waning forests in Zomba Mountain are planning to hit the road running in the summer sun to speed up conservation of the tourism attraction. Zomba Treez has plotted three routes spanning five to 21 kilometres to give athletes and spectators a feel of the picturesque spots in the country’s second largest mountain.
The plateau, home to Mulunguzi Dam which supplies waterto nearly 500 000 people in Zomba City, has come under siege from illegal loggers, timber makers and people fetching firewood.
In an interview, Run4Reforestation promoter Tom Schreiber explained: “The event slated for September 7 is a race to get people to the plateau and engage them on what we can do to conserve the forest.
“We want participants to enjoy nature more directly and think about ways we can protect together.” Zomba Treez runs the event in Partnership with Zomba Forest Lodge, which works with locals to plant and conserve trees on the steep slopes. The ecological lodge also steers firefighting initiatives to protect the forests that drape the mountain only rivalled by Mount Mulanje,the home of the annual Mulanje Porter’s Race.
The race to Sunbird Ku Chawe, a peak where conservation organisations will freely showcase their tree-saving initiatives, dubute with almost 00 athletes last year.
Like Mulanje Porters race, Run4Reforestation aims to boost tourism while rallying the participants to step up efforts to conserve the environment.
“The first year was an experiment on how it would work to engage people on environmental issues, but it was a huge success, we had about 300 athletes and lots of people came to watch. We hope it will be bigger this year,” said Schreiber.
This time, the organisers have partnered with the Athletics Association of Malawi, Sunbird Ku Chawe, CFAO, Renew’N’Able Malawi and Mbaula to bring back the race where non-profit-making organisations will showcase their tree-saving initiatives.
Old Mutual will offer the winning athlete in the 21-kilometre category an all-paid trip to compete in the Soweto Marathon in SOuth Africa.
Apart from the race for the air ticket, the event will also give the participants a run for their passion to save trees, with some of the proceeds earmarked to go towards the creation of a mountaintop nursery of indeginous trees adapted to Ku Chawe Peak and other parts of the mountain.
“We have a lot of forested areas, mostly pine. It will be nice to create indigenous conservation zones in the mountain, ” he said.
Source: The Nation_August 22, 2019_Environment_By James Chavula-Staff Writer