By Nellie Kanyemba Kapatuka,MANA
As the Malawi Tree planting season continues, the European Union (EU) has planted over 3,000 trees at Mtsiliza village in Dowa district in its continued support to the country’s forestry sector.
EU Deputy Ambassador to Malawi, Aurelie Valtat said environmental conservation is of paramount importance in order to create a sustainable environment for people living in rural areas.
Valtat added that greening and reforestation are part of their agriculture programming with over K25 million pumped into the activities every year.
She however, pointed out that there is a greater need for civic education in environmental management to make people realize the importance of replanting and also that trees can still be used even without cutting them down.
“EU is very committed in this area, we have big programs in agriculture and it goes beyond growing crops which is why we are here planting these trees today in order to create an enabling environment for the people,” said Valtat.
Director of Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources for Dowa district council, Noel Limbani, commended the EU for the kind gesture, especially for planting fruit trees saying it will support the fulfillment of the six food groups that the government is currently advocating for.
He said as a council, they will make sure that the community by-laws and regulations that have been put in place are put to good use to ensure proper protection and sustainable management of the trees.
Senior Group Mtsiliza pledged on behalf of his community, to take good care of the trees with hope that by doing so, water problems that the area is currently facing will be history.
The 2019-2020 tree planting season was launched on December 18, 2019 with a target of 62 million tree seedlings to be planted.
Mtsogoleri wa nzeru mdziko muno tilibe, zoona azungu akunja ndi amene alimbikitse a Malawi kudzala mitengo mmmmmmm, shame on us.