Wildlife and Natural Resources Conservation and Rehabilitation Trust (WNRCRT), a United Religious Initiatives Cooperation Circle has from 10th to 20th January, 2024 planted about 6000 local tree seedlings along the Lilongwe-Lingadzi River catchment in Lilongwe City. The CC is doing this as one way of restoring the degraded ecosystem and mitigating the impacts of Climate Change under the Greening Lilongwe City Campaign.
The initiative follows the opening of the 2023/2024 tree planting season in Malawi which runs every year from 15th December to 15th April. The intervention is part of the efforts to conserve the river line system passing through the city which is facing numerous unsustainable human actions ranging from deforestation, sand mining, brick burning and poor agricultural practices. Some of the key stakeholders include the local residents, Lilongwe City Council, Lilongwe CC, and the youth networks.
Speaking during the launch of the exercise, the CC Secretary, Alexander Zenasi expressed a deep concern about the increase removal of vegetation along the river bank which is posing a serious flood risk resulting from soil erosion that would escalate river siltation which would be costly to both humans and the environment when floods occur.
He encouraged the local people and all the stakeholders involved to take good care of the planted trees. Also speaking during the event, the URI National Coordinator for Malawi Mr. Geoffrey Manasseh encouraged the youth in working together towards finding and implementing sustainable solutions to solving the environmental challenges affecting them. He commended the CC for coordinating the initiative and appealed for more support from different players to achieve the campaign goals.
Speaking on behalf of the Mayor of Lilongwe City, the Lilongwe City Council Chief Environmental Management Officer Mr. Godfrey Kalenga described the intervention as timely as it agrees with the objectives of the Lilongwe ecological corridor conservation. He encouraged all the stakeholders involved in the intervention to join hands not only in the planting but also in taking care of the trees to achieve a higher survival rate.
Before the actual tree planting work, the CC conducted a series of stakeholder engagement meetings to discuss ways of jointly solving the environmental challenges in the city and how to sustainably manage the trees in the catchment. Some of the post-tree planting plans include weeding, mulching, and making fire breaks. The work has been implemented with support from the Embassy of Australia under the Harare Direct Aid Program (DAP).
