Malawi is one of the 10 African countries to benefit from an initiative aimed at restoring degraded and deforested land by 2030.
A coalition of African countries and donors on Sunday unveiled the ambitious initiative on the sidelines of a crunch 195-nation United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) Conference of Parties (COP21) underway in Paris, France.
Last week, Malawi was also identified at the same conference among the developing countries to benefit from K681 million Green Climate Fund (GCF) which the city of Paris has pledged towards response to climate change.
Besides Malawi, other first beneficiaries to the African Restoration Initiative (FR 100) include the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Niger, Rwanda, Togo and Uganda.
Ten African countries, 10 technical-support partners and nine financial partners have pledged to support the project.
The project aims to restore forests as absorbers of climate-altering carbon dioxide and providing livelihood for the rural poor.
Spokesperson for Environment and Climate Management in the Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining, Sangwani Phiri, has described the move as wonderful opportunity for the country to restore its forests which are being wiped out at an alarming rate. n
