LILONGWE CITY ADVENTIST YOUTHS PLANT ONE THOUSAND TREES.

The president of Central Malawi Conference of the Seventh day Adventist Church Pastor Petro Sukali on Sunday 22nd January, 2022 led the Lilongwe City Zone Adventist Youths in planting one thousand trees along Lilongwe river banks near Kamuzu Central Hospital, at Area 33 in Lilongwe.

Speaking after the tree planting exercise, Pastor Sukali commended the youths for initiating the tree planting programme which will go a long way in mitigating climate change effects.

"According to the book of Genesis, when God created the earth, He declared that all was well. But man has destroyed the beautiful nature. Its for this reason that we commend the youths for planting the trees that will beautify our country and help mitigate climate change effects. God expects us to be good stewards of His creation. If we all," he said.

The Lilongwe City Council Director of Parks and Recreation, Allan Kwanjana, said the initiative by the Adventist youths was in line with his department’s five year strategic plan which among other thigs is focusing on recovering Lilongwe and Lingadzi rivers which usually overflood.

“We want to intensify tree planting programmes. Through a programme called Lilongwe ecological corridor restoration, we intend to plant one million trees along the riverbanks, along the roads, open spaces, and along grave yards. We all need to take care of the trees we plant to ensure high survival rate. If we don’t take care of them now, the next generations will suffer," he said.

The Central Malawi Conference Youth Director Pastor Solomon Naliya, Advisor to the Minister of Natural Resources, Stella Gama, and Environmental Officer for Lilongwe City Council, Cedric Tambala attended the tree planting programme too.

Over the years, Malawi has experienced high rate of deforestation and forest degradation which are mainly man-made in nature.

Some causative factors of deforestation include agricultural expansion, illegal charcoal and firewood production, deliberate and uncontrolled forest fires, expanding settlements including encroachment on protected forest areas. All these factors have endangered trees, forests and biodiversity that naturally balance people’s livelihoods.

By Yunos Kamba