Malawi has validated and approved the Malawi National Ecosystem Assessment (NEA) Technical Report and its Summary for Policy Makers.
The validation meeting, held in Lilongwe, brought together representatives from government institutions, academia, civil society organisations, development partners, Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities, as well as members of the National Biodiversity Advisory Committee, who reviewed and endorsed the findings of the national assessment.
Speaking during the meeting, NEA Project Manager Alice Kammwamba said the gathering provided an opportunity for stakeholders to discuss key results, provide final inputs, and collectively approve the NEA outputs.
Kammwamba stressed that the NEA will serve as a critical evidence base to support national planning, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable natural resource management.
She added that the report highlights the importance of ecosystem services for livelihoods, food security, and national development, noting that Malawi faces a significant task in restoring, conserving, and managing its environment.
Deputy Director of Environmental Affairs in the Ministry of Natural Resources, Benson Yasin, said the NEA will help inform policy decisions and implementation by identifying effective interventions and areas requiring capacity building.
He added that it provides a basis for decision-making by highlighting biodiversity loss that needs to be addressed.
“This is important for us as a country because we need to make proper and informed decisions. It provides a comprehensive analysis of the status, trends, and drivers of change affecting Malawi’s ecosystems, including terrestrial, aquatic, and wetland ecosystems,” said Yasin.
He further noted that a key feature of the assessment is the integration of Indigenous and Local Knowledge alongside scientific knowledge using a multiple evidence-based approach, recognising the vital role communities play in understanding and managing ecosystems.
Lead author of the NEA, Wellman Kondowe, a senior lecturer at Mzuzu University, said one of the key findings is that the lack of inclusion of traditional knowledge systems is weakening ecosystem conservation.
He observed that local communities have long-standing value systems that have not been adequately incorporated into environmental policies, creating a gap.
Kondowe warned that continued reliance on scientific approaches alone, without integrating community beliefs, could lead to resistance or non-compliance in implementing environmental policies.
“It is imperative that when developing government policies, we take into account community beliefs and value systems, as these are the people who live with nature and have developed systems for managing the environment through traditional knowledge. We need to integrate that knowledge with science,” he said.
The validated report will now proceed to final editing, publication, and national dissemination to ensure its findings inform policy processes and development planning in Malawi.
The NEA also contributes to global biodiversity efforts under the Convention on Biological Diversity and supports the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which aims to halt and reverse biodiversity loss worldwide.
Once finalised, the NEA outputs will be shared widely with policymakers, researchers, development partners, and communities to support the sustainable management of Malawi’s ecosystems for present and future generations.
