ENVIRONMENT
Tree
Nursery — 50,000 Trees Planted in January 2006
The tree nursery
project has been attracting a lot of interest and, in January 2006,
over 50,000 trees were planted out in the local area. People had registered
their interest in trees for their gardens. These were recorded, and
training was provided for the planting and care of the trees. Also,
community wood lots have been created and, with a regular programme
of planting, it is hoped that trees in our area will become sustainable.
Nitogen-fixing trees have also been planted in cassava fields, and these
will improve crop yields in the years to come.
On
our official planting day, we had a number of important guests including
the Minister of Agriculture, our local MP, senior Forest Officers and
Malawi Radio, together with several Traditional Authorities (TAs) and
Chiefs. Our tree project is really on the map now.
The
rate of deforestation in Malawi is frightening — an area of forest
the size of a football pitch is cut down every 10 minutes. We
are putting together plans to plant 4 million trees per year in the
Nkhata Bay District, an area of 4,000 sq km. We are actively
looking for funding — £1 pays
for 10 trees — please click here
for more details.
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Training
Day for 50 Chiefs
The key to
preserving the forests and our reforestation project is simple, and
this is to involve the Chiefs and the local communities. In December
2005, we had a very successful training day with 50 Chiefs. The meeting
was also attended by Aleke Banda, our local MP, who has been very supportive.
The
communities are fully aware of the deforestation problem, but they just
don’t know what to do. These training days can illustrate the
problems and the solutions, and motivate the Malawians to help themselves.
RIPPLE Africa will coordinate this project and provide equipment, polythene
tubes and seeds, together with training.
Force
Ngwira, the RIPPLE Africa environmental project manager, is now carrying
out a number of training days with Chiefs, Traditional Authorities (TAs),
Forest Guards and the local communities. The experience that we now
have and the impressive results we have achieved, together with the
facilities at Mwaya, are ideal for showing people what is possible,
and they are keen to be involved.
10,000
km Microlight Trip — Raising Funds for RIPPLE Africa
Two previous
volunteers, Matt and Pauline, put together a magnificent adventure which
took place this year between April and June: 7 people, 2 support vehicles,
and a motorbike travelling through South Africa, Namibia, Botswana,
Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique and back to South Africa — over 10,000
kms. Apart from having fun, they were able to raise £3,800 for
RIPPLE Africa, and 25 additional tree nurseries have been started growing
a total of 250,000 trees.
There
is an amazing trip website with lots of photos and a journal of the
adventures the Sky High team had at www.skyhighforafrica.com.
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June
2006 — Some of the 50,000 Trees Planted Out in January
The tree planting
this year has been very successful. The trees pictured below were photographed
in June 2006, and they were grown from seed in September 2005 at the
Mwaya tree nursery.
This
year there has been lots of rain, which has not only been good for local
farmers but has given the trees planted out in January a wonderful start.
This
project is drawing much interest from other Chiefs and Traditional Authorities
(TAs), and the project at Mwaya is showing what can be achieved by other
communities.
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50
New Tree Nurseries Started
RIPPLE Africa
is well on the way to achieving its goal of growing 4 million trees
per year. By June 2006, we had set up 50 new community tree nurseries
which will grow 500,000 trees. Force, our environmental project manager,
and his team, together with the Forestry Department, are delivering
materials, training communities and establishing these nurseries. The
Chiefs are all really keen to have their own nurseries and to be part
of the programme, and there is healthy competiton between the Chiefs
and their communities.
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Charcoal
For Sale at the Side of the Road
In June, we
noticed a large increase in the amount of charcoal for sale at the side
of the road on the way to Mzuzu. However, this practice is illegal and
is a major problem in the south of Malawi. Poverty is leading people
to make charcoal, and beautiful hardwood trees are being cut down. It
can take three medium sized trees to produce one bag of charcoal and,
currently, this practice is not sustainable. In fact, very few local
people use charcoal — it is mainly purchased by people in towns
who probably have access to electricity. RIPPLE Africa, in conjunction
with the Forestry Department and the District Assembly, is now trying
to put an end to this practice and has been confiscating the charcoal
for sale at the side of the road. RIPPLE Africa gives talks to the communities,
who are generally pleased for this practice to stop as they recognise
that it is reducing their future timber. So far, we have confiscated
130 bags.
We
are keen to see how this ban on charcoal sales is working during our
next visit.
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Bulls
and Ox Carts
The four bulls,
Gin and Tonic, and Rum and Coke, are settling into their new roles and
are a useful asset to local transport, transporting soil, building materials,
logs, etc.
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