ECRP to upscale trees survival rate by 80 percent

Coalition of churches plan to plant a million trees

By Charles Mkoka

Lilongwe - Christian Aid five year Enhancing Community Resilience Programme (ECRP) and Act Alliance, a coalition of over 140 churches and faith based  organisations will compliment government environmental conservation efforts by planting 1 million trees and ensure survival rate of 80 percent is attained come next planting season Pansi Katenga, Christian Aid County Director said in Lilongwe Wednesday.

The two organisations have also roped on board the National Youth Network on Climate Change to contribute to the achievement of government national target of planting 60 million trees during the national tree planting season in 2016. This Katenga explained will in the long run contribute to reducing the risk of erosion, disasters but also general sustainable natural resource use and availability of water and soil for human use.

Katenga added they expect to achieve a survival rate of 80 percent and increase the number of natural regeneration sites through coppicing especially on indeginious species of trees.

"Each person will plant 15 trees per household and we will start with Kauma on 5 February, on the outskirts of Lilongwe where we want to cultivate a culture of protecting trees and improving the survival rate," said Katenga during a media briefing.

Dominic Nyasulu of National Youth Network on Climate Change who was flanked by Katenga and Milton Luhanga, Executive Director of the Churches and Action in Relief and Development added that the campaign will use existing structures on the ground to ensure the goal of achieving 80 percent survival rate of planted trees is achieved. Synergy existence is what the institutions believe will bring the needed results.

The approach we have taken is different because we want to use existing structures on the ground Nyasulu said adding they will use local community based groups, clubs  and other structures like faith based group to own the whole exercise. This will increase awareness and demonstrate the importance of nurturing trees in a bid to improve survival rate, a core objective of the whole exercise.

The ECRP afforestation campaign is being modelled on the principal of "plant a tree watch it grow and don't let it die. Arrest deforestation."

The non state actors afforestation efforts come in the wake of massive deforestation due to charcoal and timber logging  taking place in catchment and fragile areas, a development that is hugely impacting on hydro power generation and water resource accessibility countrywide amid challenges of climate change.