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SO WHAT IS GOING ON THEN?!

The Enchanted Forest:




The Enchanted Forest is a stunning path on the south western side of the Plateau, starting from close to Zomba Forest Lodge and finishing on the ridge, and passing through exquisite afro-montane cloud forest.


This forest remains thanks to the work that TREEZ carries out. The forest is rich in biodiversity, a unique ecosystem that is fast disappearing in Malawi, due to the constant demand for charcoal and fuelwood.


Thanks to TREEZ, the south western slopes of the Plateau have been protected from harm and are actually bucking the trend of deforestation. The number of trees on this side is GROWING!


How? Because TREEZ raises money that pays our conservation group members a survival rate for every tree within their protected areas. This amounts to millions of Malawi Kwacha being poured into the community every year.


TREEZ also pays our community members to patrol throughout the dry season in order to prevent fires - this also costs a great deal but thanks to this, the forests have been protected from fires. In fact, a few weeks ago, over 150 of our community conservation group members came to help put out a fire which would have devastated the Enchanted Forest, and were working until gone 10pm - all so that people can continue to enjoy the benefits of the forest.


But raising funds is hard and we cannot ask the community to carry out the work for nothing - so we ask that hikers contribute a small amount to our conservation work if they want to explore this side of the Plateau.


Guests staying at ZFL do not have to pay as part of their money for staying with us already goes into TREEZ 🙂

TREEZ conservation groups receive their annual survival rate payments



Zomba Forest Lodge set up TREEZ (The Reforestation of the Environment and Ecosystem of Zomba), a small conservation organisation, 8 years ago.


TREEZ started by sponsoring the Happy Hammers football and netball teams to help fight fires and carry out fire prevention activities.


Now, 8 years on, TREEZ counts over 200 members, spread into more than 15 groups including sports teams, but also church choirs, a youth group and our very own hip hop band The Bright Dreamers.

Each group has an allocated area of responsibility for which they receive money for each tree within their area, no matter how big or small; they all count. Above are some of the groups photographed when their annual tree count money was given to them (It was a misty day 😅)


To date, in these areas, we have counted over 90,000 trees that have been protected. This past year, we have also started counting and paying for trees within the community as well, in order to encourage people to plant more trees. This brings the total to well over 110,000 🌱☘️🌿


In a country that suffers from a debilitating rate of deforestation, our work is more important than ever and we celebrate every tree that has made it through the year!


A big thank you to Jonas Beyard, our TREEZ right-hand man, for his hard work and his ongoing dedication to the cause, and to all the TREEZ conservation group members 👏


And a huge thank you to all of you who support TREEZ, directly and through the Run4reforestation 💚

Happy Earth Day everyone 💚

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