The Dzalanyama Forest Reserve

Shortage of water supply to Lilongwe city due to constant siltation and seasonal dry-ups of streams and rivers that drain from Dzalanyama mountain ranges and the irregular rain falls around the region as a result of widespread deforestation that had created an ecological disaster left Government with no choice but to initiate rapid response system in order to mitigate the worst effects. Therefore the Government through other development partners like Lilongwe Water Board and Japanese International Cooperation Agency came up with the following strategies: Conducting feasibility study to establish excess of damage in Dzalanyama Forest Reserve. Promotion of public awareness through Newspaper publications, Radio and Television progammes about Dzalanyama. Adoption of a multisectrol approach on implementation of forest operations like tree planting and law enforcement in Dzalanyama Forest Reserve.  Adoption of policies and an institutional framework consistent with sustainability and p

Firewood is the most commonly used source of energy among the biomass energy in Malawi. It is estimated that firewood consumption alone is currently at 80% of the total domestic energy(Department of Energy Affairs report, 2000).  And because of over dependency on fuel wood for energy the forests are constantly shrinking and the availability of fuel wood for domestic energy is getting less and less. There is a formidable gap between demand and supply of fuel wood and in certain parts the main preoccupation is not so much food but fuel wood to cook it. Fuel wood has become as much a necessity of life as food itself. This scarce commodity is now constantly gaining high market value than food grain itself and it is commonly transported by bicycles, trucks, oxcarts to the main markets for heating and lighting, brick burning, tobacco curing and industrial use. Illegal tree cutting for firewood has affected Dzalanyama Forest Reserve over the past two decades and the resultant deforestation