Environment

Kalibu unveils school forestry contest

Kalibu Academy in Blantyre has launched a win-a-tree competition to accelerate the restoration of woodlots in both public and private primary schools.

The academy will gift participating schools seedlings to plant in their woodlots.

Howard waters a newly planted tree

Kalibu Academy director Pastor Michael Howard said the project team will vigilantly monitor the growth and survival of the trees so the seedlings do not go to waste.

“The contest targets to plant at least one million trees in schools in Blantyre and surrounding areas,” he said. “This will go all the way to Nsanje.”

Currently, 30 schools have signed up to the challenge.

“We are hopeful that the figure will grow,” said Howard.

Blantyre City has lost its lush forests to its fast-growing demand for charcoal, new settlements and construction materials.

Linda Mphande, Blantyre District Council director of agriculture, environment and natural resources management, said the district is lagging behind in environmental conservation efforts.

“Most of the community members are failing to manage the trees. We are cutting more trees than those being replanted. And even where we replant, the survival rate is low,” she explained.

Mphande observed that efforts to restore forests using natural regeneration method are hampered by charcoal producers “who even uproot the stumps for charcoal making”.

Mphande envisioned schools becoming green again if the competition is successfully implemented.

“If communities and extension workers join hands, we can achieve more,” she said.

Cecilia Chauluka, deputy director of forestry for the southern zone, applauded the initiative as a sustainable way of reversing the loss of forest cover.

“We are particularly happy that the initiative is targeting children. These are our future leaders. When we are gone, they will take up the mantle, including the management of natural resources,” she said.

Howard was optimistic that the initiative would succeed following similar competitions by Kalibu Ministries churches across Malawi and Mozambique. The neighbours won the ultimate prize. The winning school will receive a prize to be announced soon, said the organisers.

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