The Nangondo Tree Nursery project is run with the support of TotalEnergies Malawi. The project broke ground in January 2024; at the event Traditional Authority (AT) Liwonde and Ministry of Education representatives handed over the site for the project. In June 2024, the TotalEnergies Country Director, as well as other officials from head office, visited the nursery to see the progress of the project, offering words of encouragement to the Eco-Clubs, the youth, the schools and the local leaders.
The journey of seeding a forest >> planting a forest >> celebrating the value of a forest
On this day, the TotalEnergies officials participated in compost making (digging holes, mixing manure, soil and decomposable vegetation, and placing it in the compost holes), in order to have the best soil for the seeds. The compost took 90 days to mature, from July to September.
TotalEnergies officials, community leaders and children at the Tree Nursery Center – June 2024
On the 5th of September 2024 the compost was deemed ready for use, and CITW and community leaders, youth and Eco-Clubs came together again to celebrate and start sowing the seeds.
The tree nursery activities include:
- Pot filling (packing soil into polyethene tubes)
- Seed sowing
- Caring for the seedlings
These will be the main activities until the seedlings are ready to be distributed to the local community in January and February 2025. The schools opened, and all CITW Eco-Clubs resumed, on the 16th of September 2024.
Symon (CITW Programme Co-ordinator) demonstrated how to fill the first seedling tube, followed by the Village Headman Waile and all the children. One hundred tubes and seeds of Mbawa (East African mahogany Khaya nyasica, an iconic Malawian tree) were sown, marking the opening of the nursery.
The smiles of contentment, optimism and commitment were evident among the community leaders. Group Village Headman Waile is also a committed local patron of the CITW programme here on the eastern edge of Liwonde National Park. After following the project from conceptual “thoughts in mind” to the progress made so far, he offering deserved words of appreciation to TotalEnergies and CITW.
Group Village Headman Waile (Representing TA Liwonde), and Eco-Club members, all smiles, and showing their commitment to increasing the forest cover in their communities in the future
Some of the project risk-mitigation factors:
The whole site is fenced with mesh wire to keep livestock away from the tree seedlings
Strong leadership and role models in the Village Headmen and CITW youth
The site is backed up with a huge solar-powered water pump plant, ready to provide a steady water supply for the seedlings
Serious authority support from the TA Liwonde himself; the project is also named after him
Sustainable Conservation through Leadership Development is Achievable
Theme: Leadership Development through Reforestation
- Location: CITW Zone 1 of 3 – TA Liwonde, Eastern Communities outside Liwonde National Park
- Number of Participants: 200 Eco-Club members and 40 YES Club members
- Annual target: To raise 20, 000 different species of trees
- Beneficiaries: “Our Parents, Uncles, Chiefs and our local communities” – Children in the Wilderness (CITW) learners
- For the CITW children: It is about Learning and Leadership in Practice
- Knowledge increase, Attitude alignment and Behaviour change towards achieving the desired sustainable conservation
– By Symon Chibaka, CITW Malawi Programme Co-ordinator
