Several of the Ripple Africa team visited Mangochi District last week. Within the District is Lake Malawi National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where we not only support Parks and Wildlife to protect cichlids, but are also helping protect trees by building fuel-efficient cookstoves and efficient fish processing ovens. These projects are vital to protecting fish species and trees.
Our local team members work with the Parks and Wildlife team to educate those living in the National Park about the importance of protecting the cichlid fish, many found nowhere else in the world. Although these are not usually caught as food, fishers often used them as bait to catch other species – these are declining because of overfishing as in other parts of the lake.
Deforestation is a serious problem in the National Park too, as people living in local villages collect firewood to cook their own food and for their fish processing businesses.
However, with our fuel-efficient cookstoves and the Changu Changu Moto Oven, locals will no longer need to cut trees down as they will be able to use only branches and twigs as fuel.