Project hailed for improving tree survival rate

By Wanangwa Tembo

 Desk Officer for Climate Smart Public Works Programme (CSPWP) in Kasungu, Ignatius Lipato says the community contribution towards the land conservation initiative has helped to improve the survival rate of trees in the catchments.

Lipato said through the project’s beneficiary voluntary contribution arrangement, communities have taken it upon themselves to take care of the trees planted under the initiative and in the process ensured high survival rate of the trees.

He was speaking in an interview Tuesday, after supervising the public works activities in some of the 20 catchments in the district.

Lipato said: “There is a deliberate arrangement in this project that beneficiary communities make some contribution in form of labour towards the initiative. It is through this arrangement that the participants prepare nursery for trees and also take care of the already planted trees.

“Our assessment shows that unlike in previous interventions where emphasis was only on planting trees, the CSPWP has helped to ensure that the planted trees are taken care of and as a result, most of the planted trees survive.”

He said the second phase of the project has started on a high note in that there is a high turnout of participants working on the programme activities which aim at reducing the rate of land degradation, improving soil fertility, restoring the forest landscapes and reclaiming gullies.

“The community response has been great and we intend to introduce more catchments so that we achieve more,” he said.

Assistant Land Resources Conservation Officer for Kasungu, Patricia Kanyika, said the project will also consider promoting planting of bamboos which she said are effective in land conservation.

She said: “In the current cycle, the communities have prepared various species of trees. But as we go along, we would like to try bamboos as well.”

Joseph Banda, a participant at Chatalala catchment in Traditional Authority Njombwa said the project could have more impact if the activities also take place during the dry season.

Kasungu is said to be one of the most degraded districts due to tobacco farming activities which have hugely contributed to clearing of forests.

The district has about 23 000 participants under the CS-PWP who are involved in activities that include reforestation, contour marker ridging, vetiver planting, storm water drain construction, gully reclamation and promoting natural regeneration of forests.

Funded by the World Bank, the CS-PWP aims at restoring the environment to shrug off climate change shocks that threaten people’s livelihood while at the same time building livelihood resilience for the poor and vulnerable population.