“If we run away now, who will come to protect the forests in the future?”
Q&A with Carol Chidzungu, the Acting District Forest Officer for Dedza District in Central Malawi.
Government forest reserves in Malawi’s Dedza district are under attack as people continue to cut trees to produce charcoal. Understaffing and a lack of financial resources make the job of management, including law enforcement difficult. In recent years, the government has made strides to improve law enforcement of forest crimes, and with this the motivation of district forest staff is improving. The USAID and UKaid co-funded Modern Cooking for Healthy Forests Activity is helping to improve government coordination and providing legal and regulatory tools to protect forests. In this interview, Carol Chidzungu, the Acting District Forest Officer for Dedza District, explains how these developments are helping to monitor forests and address forestry crimes.
Can you provide a general overview of Dedza district and its forest reserves?
Dedza forest reserves include Dzalanyama, Dedza-Salima Escarpment, Mua-Livulezi and Chongoni, as well as a number of smaller protected areas. We also have timber plantations in Dedza. They are all being depleted. Our district is just an hour or so from the city of Lilongwe, which is the largest market for charcoal in the country. The district is very busy because we share the border with Mozambique. Currently there is no coordination between our countries on topics related to forest crimes, so we are at a disadvantage, but we try our best to apply the right strategies.
What other challenges do you face to monitor and patrol forest resources?
First, we are understaffed. We have fewer than 30 forest guards to cover three large forest reserves. We also don’t have enough tools in the way of vehicles to help us cover the large area. Yesterday we impounded a large truck carrying more than 100 bags of illegal charcoal. To get the truck back to our office we had to hire another truck to go and tow the vehicle. It took us 10 hours to complete the task, and was costly.
Is the government doing more to increase the number of rangers?
Last year, the government recruited 100 forest guards who went to training and have become forest rangers. We rely on these forest rangers and depend on their capacity. It is the hardest job in the forest, and we know how hard they work. We need more of them to do our jobs and make our work effective.
What trends are you seeing in regard to forest crimes?
The trend is that crime is going up because there is a strong and growing market for forest products like charcoal and timber. Law enforcement has improved. There are now stiffer punishments, and after we work on a case, we feel satisfied when criminals are given stiffer punishments. Over the last month, we saw four convictions and referred a total of 23 cases to the police.
How is the partnership with MCHF supporting the objectives of the Department of Forestry?
We are working with Modern Cooking for Healthy Forests to improve the management and monitoring of forest reserves, and to to improve regulation and enforcement. MCHF is an important source of funding into the sector as a whole and facilitates engagement meetings with the police, the Anti-Corruption Bureau, and the courts. As a result, the government is focusing more on law enforcement and engagement, and the structures for regulation are strengthened.
Do you believe stiffer penalties and more convictions are a deterrent?
Yes, for example, the other day we saw a conviction of the driver of a vehicle carrying loads of illegal charcoal in our district. He was punished with a fine of 1.2 million Kwacha, and if he doesn’t pay the fine, he will serve six months in jail. In the past, he would have paid a fine of less than 100,000 kwacha, and then probably returned to the same illegal charcoal activities. The higher penalty also sends a message to others financing such activities.
MCHF supports the Department of Forestry with Malawi’s National Forest Inventory. How does this help at the district level?
In the past, we did not have any figures on the diversity and amount of resources within our forests, or how much they have changed over time. The inventory is really helpful because it determines where we need to improve management, essentially what needs to be done. We depend on the inventory carried out by the Department, with support from MCHF to come up with the measures to address the issues identified.
What policy tools has MCHF supported for better law enforcement?
The Charcoal Valuation Technical Order supports forestry staff to value charcoal more consistently, and supports us to provide evidence in court. It is important to determine how the courts approach and close cases of forest crimes. Along with that, sentencing guidelines have been important in supporting magistrates to increase sentencing for forest crimes. In the past, the courts did not fully appreciate the cases coming from the forestry sector. Today, we see that the courts are paying more attention. This is a big improvement.
What strategies are effective to raise awareness about illegal charcoal and its connection with deforestation among communities?
Apart from what we do to raise awareness among the rural communities, we can also involve the media, such as radio stations, to raise awareness about the Forest Act, and to publicize important cases. This is a way to help people understand that the issues of deforestation and law enforcement are important. In general, people are now more familiar with Malawi’s Forestry Act, and with the punishments for forest crimes, but more needs to be done.
Why do you think charcoal is such a passionate issue for Malawi?
For consumers, historically the lack of cooking energy alternatives has been an issue. Malawi is a developing country, and we currently find ourselves in a moment of changing how we cook our food and the energy sources that we use. In our cities we are moving from an era in which we all relied on illegal charcoal, and we are moving towards the use of electricity, gas and other sources of energy. But electricity is not readily available for all, and people face problems with being able to afford appliances and new technologies. We are making progress but we still have too few cooking energy options.
What is your motivation as a forestry officer?
I have a passion for the environment, and this is my opportunity to get involved in the protection of the forest as a whole. Issues of charcoal can be really controversial but you cannot run away from them. If we run away now, what will happen to our forests? And who will come to protect the forests for us in the future? The tools and resources provided by programs like MCHF are helping us to try and meet the challenges.
