The government has launched forest landscape restoration (FLR) targeting 25 000 hectares (ha) of degraded landscapes in Ntcheu district.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Government of Malawi, through the Ministry of Forestry and Natural Resources launched the project which is one of the first initiatives in Malawi that will help the country to pursue the goal of restoring more than one-third of Malawi’s land, rivers, and lakes in the next years, to foster a healthy and productive state.
Under the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative (AFR100), Malawi committed in 2016 to restoration of 4.5 million ha in the country by 2030. The project supports achievement of this target under both the AFR100 and the Bonn Challenge. It also aligns with Malawi’s National Forest Landscape Restoration Strategy and National Charcoal Strategy (2017).
According to FAO representative in Malawi, Zhijun Chen pressure on natural resources, particularly forests, is very high in Malawi because of the increasing reduction of land available for agriculture, increasing energy requirements, and conflicts related with land use. Ntcheu district experiences numerous challenges such as lack of good quality water, low agriculture production, limited livelihood opportunities because of deforestation and land degradation.
Large-scale FLR efforts
The new project aims to create opportunities to increase the socio-economic, ecological and climate-related benefits that can derive from large-scale FLR efforts with activities planned for around the landscape of Mpira dam catchment. This catchment area is a critical location due to its strategic environmental relevance for life and livelihoods in the central and southern regions of Malawi.
“I am encouraged to see that this project will in fact focus on improving food security through increased agriculture production, catchment rehabilitation and management to increase ecosystem services like water and improved livelihood opportunities through improved values chains,” said the Minister of Forestry and Natural Resources, Nancy Tembo MP during the launch event in June 2021.
The project is part of the wider Large-scale forest landscape restoration in Africa project, also funded in Cameroon, Kenya, and Rwanda simultaneously, by the German Government through Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GiZ). The initiative is under the International Climate Initiative (IKI) initiative, which is supporting partnerships for integrated climate action around the world. In Malawi, FAO is coordinating implementation in close collaboration with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the World Resources Institute (WRI), and the World Bank.
“The IKI initiative supports globally, funding areas such as reduction of greenhouse gases, adaptation to consequences of climate change, preservation of natural carbon sinks with focus on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and, protection of biodiversity,” said the Deputy Head of Cooperation, Knutt.
 targeting 25 000 hectares (ha) of degraded landscapes in Ntcheu district.){kind=link}