District Forest Officer, Erick Mbingwani, says the trees will be planted in local forests, Mulanje Mountain Forest Reserve, schools, homesteads and along the river banks.

“We are rolling out tree planting activities in all nine constituencies in Mulanje but because of COVID-19, we will be using Village Natural Resources Management Committees (VNRMCs) to plant the trees in their designated places,” said Mbingwani.

Chairperson of Mulanje District Council, Councilor Richard Chikhwakhwa, said the district has not been spared by effects of climate change emanating from environmental degradation.

“This is the reason we are encouraging every individual to plant more than one tree to restore destroyed forests,” said Councilor Chikhwakhwa.

Parliamentarian for Mulanje Pasani Constituency, Ebbie Mathanda, said after planting trees that politicians, traditional leaders and other local leaders should take the lead in protecting the trees.

“We as leaders have the responsibility to protect environment within our areas and we should be ashamed if our people keep on destroying trees without saying anything,” said Mathanda.

Almost all people that attended the event wore face masks, buckets of water were all over the place and social distancing was partially observed in adherence to COVID-19 prevention measures.