Zomba District Council has urged residents of the city to take good care of newly planted trees as one way of conserving the degraded environment.
Zomba District Council Liaison Officer Wydrin Nsanjo made the sentiments during a launch of a constituency tree planting exercise called Bweza Chilengedwe project which was held at Group Village headman Chawuya, Traditional Authority Mwambo in Zomba District.
Nsanjo hinted that the Bweza Chilengedwe project aims at filling gaps that were identified in Masaf 4 project, and is being implemented in all 28 districts.
“The project was piloted in a few districts, but after registering good progress, we are now working in all 28 districts. The main aim is to restore the environment which was lost through a number of interventions like protecting the liver banks,” Nsanjo said.
Speaking on the same, Forest Assistant for Likangala and Mpokwa EPA under Likangala ward constituency Yassin Ramusi disclosed that they have set forest bylaws as one way to safeguard the newly planted trees.
“We plant trees every year but no progress is seen. So, this time we have set bylaws to protect the trees. Whoever is found messing with these trees will be answerable. Another thing is that we are looking forward to having more sensitization campaigns on the importance of having these kinds of trees of different species,” Ramusi concluded.
Member of Parliament for Zomba Likangala constituency Abgail Bongwe, Members from Zomba district council, Chiefs, and other nongovernmental organizations such as Save the Children, and Emmanuel International among others were present at the launch.
About 300,000 trees are supposed to be planted in Likangala and Mpokwa EPA under the Zomba Likangala ward, while over 2 million trees are planned to be planted in the whole district.