The Ministry of Narural Resources, Energy and Mining’s newly introduced charcoal licensing system will help to protect trees from depletion as a result of charcoal burning and as a business. Natural Respources, Energy and Mining Deputy Minister Werani Chilenga said this during a tree planting exercise by Malawi Weather Chaser at Msambo Village in Traditional Authority (T/A) Chimutu in Lilongwe on Thursday.
He said the ministry introduced the system after noting that banning charcoal production would not be easy, considering the growing demand for energy in the country.
Said Chilenga: “What we do is that those with woodlots come to the ministry and apply for a lincense to burn charcoal and sell charcoal and in this way, we ensure that all natural tree charcoal is not available on the market.”
On his part, Malawi Weather Chaser chairperson Professor Sosten Chitcha said the group encourages communities and individuals to plant trees as a way of replenishing the environment and ensuring weather and climate patterns are not disturbed,
“The major factor leading to the climate change is depletion of trees and the only wy to control the trend is by replacing them not only for fuel but also fruits. That is what we are promoting,” he said.
Weather Chaser is a social media group cmprising environmental experts from various sectors. It was formed to monitor and trach weather events as they envolve in different parts of the country. Chiotha said the monitoring and tracking is done through the use of scientific and natural weather signals and how community respond.
On Thursday, the group planted 5 000 trees in Msambo Village, one of the communities with an active village natural resource committee which has demostrated capacity to protect forests through by-laws.
Earlier this month, the group also planted 6 000 trees around Chigumula forest in Blantyre in response to government’s 2018/19 National Tree Planting Season currently underway.