Malawi’s forests, even in protected areas, are not safe, as evidenced by rising cases of confrontation between community members and law enforcement across the country.
In the latest development, 28 people were arrested yesterday for illegally sawing timber in Mulanje Mountain Forest Reserve.
Mulanje District Forest Officer Eric Mbingwani confirmed the development, saying the suspects were netted in a joint Malawi Defence Force(MDF) and Forest Scouts operation.
”The 28 people were found sawing timber in a government plantation without permits. What happened is that when our team went for patrols, people from nearby villages came and started stoning officers from the Department of Forestry, resulting in three of our men and two villages getting wounded,” Mbingwani said.
In the Northern Region, Forest Regulation and Quality Control Law Enforcement Officer Gloria Mlauzi has bemoaned shortage of staff, saying is exacerbating the rate of deforestation.
She said, from January this year to date, Department of Forestry officials in the region have apprehended 450 people for smuggling forest products.
”People that have retired and died are not replaced. The government should consider recruiting more people so that we can have more staff to manage our forest reserves and restore tree and grass cover,” Mlauzi said.
The sentiments were echoed by Moyale Barracks Commanding Officer Lieutenant Thokozani Chazema, who cited Kaning’ina Forest as one of the areas affected by deforestation.
”Community members should refrain from cutting down trees,” the MDF Official said.
It is the same story of deforestation in Zomba, where some of the trees that made the old capital green have been felled down.
One of the affected areas is Zomba mountain, a development which Nankhunda Transformation Trust Chairperson Benedicto Daviko has described as worrying.
Last week, a vehicle that was suspected to have been carrying forest products lost balance on the mountain.
On Monday, on our way to a meeting, we came across a lorry we suspected of carrying tree products. This is worrisome,” he said.
Community Policing Chairperson in the area of Senior Chief Mlumbe Kennedy Satera, said they have intensified patrols to protect trees from people that cut them without permits.
Meanwhile, Movement for Environmental Action Executive Director Innocent Sandram has urged the government to clamp down on illegal activities in forests.
In May this year, Environment and Natural Resources minister Nancy Tembo bemoaned the rate of deforestation in Malawi when she visited Pililongwe Forest Reserve in Mangochi District to appreciate the extent of the problem.
Se blamed charcoal burners for fueling the problem.
”The situation is becoming worrisome because we see a lot of people selling charcoal along the roads but there is nothing our officers are doing about it, Local people are trying their best to apprehend the charcoal burners but it is our officials who are letting them off. This is pathetic,” she said.
At the opening of the 2020-21 tree planting season last year, President Lazarus Chakwera urged Malawians not to relent on planting trees, saying this was key to restoring forest cover in the country.
Source: The Daily Times_August 31,2021-By Thomas Kachere, Jason Malowa and Josephine Chipofya.