So 2018 has been a great year for planting - we got the rain.... eventually! Yes the planting started late as the rains continuously spurned us during January. We watched the rain soak the country around us while Zomba stayed dry but rain it did, we just had to be patient :)
And we had a lot of trees.
Some of the trees we got privately and some of the them (a lot of them) were from One Acre Fund via FRIM and all thanks to some generous guests, Friends of Malawi Association and the Responsible Safari Company to name but a few.
The Malacamu Village ladies and the Nankhunda choir did a lot of the planting as did the 2 football teams whom TREEZ sponsors: the Happy Hammers and Berries FC.
Jonas Beard also continues to be a tremendous help: as well as organising his own environmental awareness programme (Nankhunda Transformation), he has been helping the Tour Guides Association and TREEZ and even organised a concert on Martyrs Days for the local communities which went down a storm and all in the name of conservation.
The Outer Western Slopes of the Plateau are looking great - Most of the area has been replanted and it has been amazingly well maintained. Now are visible large areas of young pine varying from babies to yound adolescents and it won't be long before we lose the incredible views but that is a small price to pay for a return to the pine forests. The Forestry Department and the Mulunguzi Timber Co-Operative have done an outstanding job on our side. Lets hope that it can serve as an example for the rest of the Plateau and other forest reserves. Why not repopulate Chiradzulu Forest Reserve (which has no more trees) for example?! It can be done :)
A big well done and a huge thank you to all those who have been and continue to be involved with TREEZ!