Mchinji ‘star’ performers in afforestation drive

People around Ludzale Village Forest Reserve in Mchinji have commended the Department of Forestry for convincing them to stop destroying natural resources and become star performers in reviving the very forests they once depleted with impunity.

Ludzale Village Forest Reserve chairperson Mwaziona Tembo said this when her afforestation committee showed off their impressive village forest reserve to the department’s officials recently.

She said: “Thanks to the consistent lessons you delivered to us and the tools and other inputs we received from the Tobacco Levy Afforestation and Forest Conservation Programme, we now have a thriving forest reserve which we are all proud of.

“We are determined to protect this reserve from any intruder who still harbours the detrimental habit of destroying trees wantonly.”

The tobacco levy is a government programme run by the department of forestry. It is a financial resource pool into which all tobacco growing and selling companies contribute 0.02 percent of their financial resources from tobacco sales.

In part, the levy provides material support such as forks, seedlings, wheelbarrows and technical expertise that help the communities in their reafforestation projects, which empower communities to own their forest reserves under the supervision of Village Natural Resources Committees and forest extension officers.

According to Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining spokesperson Sangwani Phiri, the levy support is distributed to nine main tobacco-growing districts in the country. These are Mchinji, Ntcheu, Lilongwe, Dowa, Kasungu, Rumphi, Mzimba, Balaka and Mangochi.

Said Phiri: “The Ludzale Village forest area, in the area of Sub-Traditional Authority (T/A) Nyoka, covers a total area of 144 hectares. It is encircled by 10 villages and enjoys 80 percent growth of natural trees, including those which have been replanted since 2004, when the project started on Ludzale Hill. A total of over 200 000 trees have so far been planted on this hill.

“The other star performers have transformed the Tadala Village Forest Area in Zuwa Limo, T/A Mkanda.”