Malawi is listed as one of the five countries most affected by climate change yet produces less than 0.01% of the world’s emissions. It’s time that we protected our planet not only for ourselves but for communities affected by our action. This is the only home we have and the only home for our children and grandchildren.
Forests provide a vital habitat for animals and support people by purifying the air we breathe and regulating local temperatures. They also act as carbon sinks.
We protect 340 sq.km of forest with 1,830 Forest Conservation Committee members in Malawi and one way this is achieved is by planting trees. Planting trees not only captures more CO2 but prevents soil erosion too.
We work with farmers and communities who are planting millions of trees each year, and these provide a sustainable source of timber and firewood for local people.
By communities having a sustainable source of timber means that they are able to now conserve existing forests with indigenous trees and allow natural regeneration to take place.
We work with families and communities to plant thousands of fruit trees. They are trained in how to care for their tree orchards so that, in time, produce enough fruit to eat and sell.
Fruit improves the health of vulnerable rural families as many people are severely lacking many of the important vitamins and minerals, and they are able to sell any surplus fruit to generate an income.
Our planet is an amazing place, but it needs our help to thrive! That’s why each year on 22nd April, more than a billion people celebrate Earth Day to protect the planet from things like pollution and deforestation. By taking part in activities like picking up litter and planting trees, we’re making our world a happier, healthier place to live.
Earth Day is focused on accelerating solutions to combat our greatest threat, climate change, and to activate everyone – governments, citizens, and businesses – to do their part. Everyone accounted for, everyone accountable.
Tree planting is one of the most effective ways to help our planet. Trees not only provide a home for wildlife, food and income for communities, but also help to absorb carbon too.
Our tree planting project is not only about planting trees in Malawi, but also about changing the way people think about their natural environment and the destructive and unsustainable actions which are causing deforestation. By involving farmers, community groups and schools, Ripple Africa aims not only to encourage more tree planting in Africa, but to slowly change how people value and use all their natural resources.
For every tree that is planted we are protecting, on average, three indigenous trees through our Forest Conservation Committees.
Ripple Africa’s tree planting project is one of the largest and most successful tree planting projects in the north of Malawi. We provide a long-term solution to fighting deforestation in Africa caused by the destruction of indigenous forests.
The tree planting project directly fights this by planting thousands of quick-growing trees with farmers, schools and community groups, and these provide a sustainable source of firewood and timber for local people.
High population growth has been the prime cause of deforestation across Malawi and has led to soil degradation, landslides, perennial rivers drying up, rain shortages and depletion of wildlife. Wood is taken from indigenous forests for building and to use for cooking. Increasing numbers of people have become involved in the production and sale of charcoal, particularly in areas near towns, further decimating the remaining forests. Trees are also cut down for firewood and timber used for housebuilding or are burned to make space for growing crops.
Our tree planting project is not only about planting trees in Malawi, but also about changing the way people think about their natural environment and the destructive and unsustainable actions which are causing deforestation. By involving farmers, community groups and schools, Ripple Africa aims not only to encourage more tree planting in Africa, but to slowly change how people value and use all their natural resources.
We first started to address this issue in the area around its base in Nkhata Bay District, providing local communities with quick-growing trees which provide an immediate benefit to the community. The trees can be used like a crop by coppicing them (cutting off the branches for firewood without felling the whole tree), and then they grow back quickly to provide more wood year on year.
However, we are now increasingly working in Mzimba Districts where deforestation is much more severe. Here we are working more with farmers who are prepared to invest a considerable amount of time (it takes up to 15 years to grow a tree large enough to sell for timber) and their own money to ensure that larger numbers of trees can be grown successfully.
High population growth has been the prime cause of deforestation across Malawi and has led to soil degradation, landslides, perennial rivers drying up, rain shortages and depletion of wildlife and biodiversity. Wood is taken from indigenous forests for building and to use for cooking. Increasing numbers of people have become involved in the production and sale of charcoal, particularly in areas near towns, further decimating the remaining forests.
What we are doing is:
For years, we have worked to fight deforestation in Malawi through tree planting and fuel-efficient cookstove projects. However, while we have been tackling deforestation in populated lowland areas, the charity has watched in sadness as the mature indigenous forests in the hills of Malawi’s Nkhata Bay and Mzimba Districts continue to disappear.
These forested hills are a primary factor in regulating the annual rainfall in the area and, frustratingly, deforestation here is pointless:
Just a handful of farmers are responsible for all this destruction through the practice of shifting cultivation. The Government has struggled to control this so it continues unabated. The farmers:
Ripple Africa is doing everything it can to combat deforestation in Malawi on all fronts. However, our Forest Conservation project is special as it is saving the forested hills responsible for regulating much of the rainfall in the District. With 90% of the population in Malawi getting their food from subsistence farming, rainfall and climate stability are not just issues for environmentalists, they are inextricably linked to poverty, health, and survival for local people.
The aim of the Forest Conservation project is to preserve the forested hills of Nkhata Bay and Mzimba Districts before they are lost forever.
We started our fruit tree project in 2007 and we work with community groups to grow improved citrus, mango, guava, papaya and avocado trees in Nkhata Bay District, Malawi. While some fruit trees grow naturally in Africa, trees are often poorly managed, and some fruit trees (banana trees in particular) suffer from viruses which mean they do not produce fruit. We have established improved fruit trees which:
All fruit trees are for the benefit of the community and each group shares trees with local schools and vulnerable people. They also receive training so they can care for the trees. In time and with proper care, the fruit trees will produce enough fruit for community members to eat and sell any surplus to raise an income.
Our fruit tree planting project is also an important way of improving nutrition. In Malawi, malnutrition is a large cause of death among children, and poor diet can lead to general ill health and disease. Many people in Malawi go hungry and survive only on a staple carbohydrate called nsima (a porridge made from either maize or cassava), severely lacking many of the important vitamins and minerals which fruit can provide. Free access to a variety of fruit at household level improves the health of vulnerable rural families.
Any kind of tree planting project is hugely important to the environment; however, fruit tree planting in particular creates a natural incentive for people to protect their trees. Because our improved fruit tree project produces fruit of a higher quality, fruit from one of Ripple Africa’s fruit trees is highly competitive at market, especially some varieties such as oranges and tangerines which are rarely grown in the area. The value of access to a sustainable income stream for a poor rural family cannot be underestimated!