The government of Malawi has initiated a military strategy to better protect its forests.
The new strategy will include deploying troops to the various forests to wade of individuals destroying them.
According to Thomson Reuters Foundation a spokesman for the Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining, Sangwani Phiri said deforestation is threatening the country’s water supply.
To fight this and save the depleting forests, officials said 24-hour military patrols of the country’s major forests will take place and loggers will be arrested and their equipment confiscated
Mr. Phiri told the Reuters Foundation that the new initiative will significantly help stop illegal cutting down of trees.
“We are targeting all forest areas across the country, but we are starting with the Mua, Livulezi, Dzalanyama, Viphya and Mulanje Mountain forests, whose rate of depletion has been worrisome,” Phiri told Reuters.
Malawi’s government estimates that the country’s 3.4 million hectares of predominantly natural forests are being depleted at a rate of 1.8-2.6 percent annually, largely for charcoal production.
The strategy of using army officers in Malawi isn’t new in the Southern African region. Botswana and South Africa are already using such a system.
Source: Africafeeds.com
