Livingstonia Synod of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian(CCAP) has bemoaned poor survival rate of the tree seedlings planted in previous years in Nkhata Bay District.
The Synod’s general secretary the Reverent William Tembo said this on Friday during a tree-planting exercise in the district.
”It is easy to plant trees, but hard to manage them; hence, we will monitor the progress of the trees up to maturity stage,” he said.
Tembo said about 90 percent of the trees they planted last year have survived.
On his part, Synod of Livingstonia Development Department board chairperson Stella Mwangonde said the church is also using competitions to motivate congregants to manage the trees.
In an interview, Nkhatabay district forestry officer MacDoster Msomba said the district is struggling with deforestation and losing about 32 000 hectares of trees annually.
According to Msomba to restore the lost trees, the district is this year expected to plant 650 000 trees.
Source: The Nation_February 16, 20202_Martha Chirambo-Staff Reporter