According to the Minister of Environment, Energy and Natural Resources, Bright Msaka, most major forests in Malawi are currently under threat of depletion.

‘We will also monitor the harvesting periods. What you should know is that timber production is not cheap. For years, as a nation we have been selling our timber at a loss,’ said Msaka.

He added that Government will review prices of old licences to ensure that the agreements made are in the best interests of the country.

We pegged our prices lower than the production cost and with the limited budget the department has, it meant Government had to continue pumping more money to maintain the forests,” he said.

Timber is one of the growing sectors in the country with most of the timber including round wood being exported to neighbouring countries and China.
Most water reservoirs are drying up leaving water boards like the Lilongwe Water Board to ration water due to the human activity on some of the country’s major forests.

On Saturday President Professor Peter Mutharika said his government will still send Malawi defence force soldiers to guard and help preserve the forests.