When it comes to nature and mankind, the relationship has often been lopsided simply because man has, for long, taken advantage of the ecosystem through wanton cut down of trees. But that has not stood in the way of efforts to conserve the environment.
For instance, communities around Vwaza Wildlife Reserve in Mzimba and Rumphi districts in the northern part of Malawi, hold piles of knowledge and information about the protected area and they are eager to pass it on to the next generation.
Sande Ngwira,72, from Ntukwayo Jere Village in the area of Senior Chief Mpherembe in Mzimba, has vivid memories of the time that people were relocated from Vwaza Forest once it became a protected area.
“Around the 1950s we lived here with our parents peacefully. We could hunt animals freely but things changed in 1968 when the government said Vwaza should be a wildlife reserve,” he recounted.
It was not until 1976 that they had to completely move out of the forest following its declaration as a wildlife reserve.
Fast forward to 2020, Malawi joined three other African countries and launched the National Ecosystem Assessment (NEA), with support from the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC). The launch signified Malawi’s resolve to take a further step towards accounting for nature and its contributions to people.
Cecilia Zimba from Ntukwayo Jere Village in Mzimba points out how the community has been relating with nature and biodiversity since the time that Vwaza was declared a protected area.
“For us to get things like traditional medicine, we have to get permission from forest rangers. With this arrangement, there is order now because we are protected by forest rangers hence human and animal conflicts are issues of the past. I am encouraging people to stop entering the forest without permission; they should also desist from cutting down trees unnecessarily because trees are important to our lives.” said Zimba.
The Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR) and the Department of Environmental Affairs are spearheading all the activities in the NEA, whose aim is, among others, to summarise and evaluate critical knowledge on biodiversity and ecosystem services that can be used by policy makers.
The project is being implemented in Lilongwe, Salima, Rumphi, Mzimba, Nkhata Bay, Nsanje, Mulanje and Zomba.
According to Indigenous and Local Knowledge Technical Working Group Coordinator for the project, Alice Kamwamba, the selected districts have ecosystems of interest and demonstrate a better national representation.
“This assessment is entirely relying on stakeholders, so we have stakeholders from different departments including government, non-governmental organisations, and the academia.”
One of the key aspects of the Malawi NEA is the inclusion of science and Indigenous and Local Knowledge (ILK) on the preservation of national ecosystems.
“The key stakeholders are the local communities who provide us with information about Indigenous and local knowledge because the objective of this assessment is to make sure that policies in Malawi related to ecosystem and biodiversity conservation are informed by science and Indigenous and local knowledge,” explained Kammwamba.
Realising the significant role that culture and ILK play in biodiversity and ecosystem conservation, NEA technical working group members comprising authors from Mzuzu University, Malawi University of Science and Technology MUST, University of Malawi UNIMA, research fellows from Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources-LUANAR, Department of Wildlife and Museums of Malawi officials embarked on a tour of the Northern Region to collect data on wildlife conservation.
“We can find secondary data from reports on scientific information but we do not have data on Indigenous and local knowledge that is why we are now starting from scratch interacting with different communities from selected districts to collect this data and synthesize it and see how we can integrate it in the assessment,” highlighted Kammwamba.
The team is specifically looking into aquatic, terrestrial and wetlands ecosystems.
They strongly believe that incorporating Indigenous and Local Knowledge in NEA will promote equity and inclusivity. Today, the NEA team is in Eneya Village in the area of Senior Chief Mpherembe in Mzimba. The village borders the Vwaza Wildlife Game Reserve that houses Lake Kazuni. In this village, members from the three thematic areas are meeting the Lake Kazuni focus group which has a representation of youths, women, the elderly, chiefs, and traditional healers. The purpose of this meeting is to among others understand from the knowledge holders and document their traditional conservation practices in Lake Kazuni for sustainable biodiversity and ecosystems.
From a community perspective, it is clear that since time immemorial, Lake Kazuni which is found in the Vwaza Wildlife Reserve, has had a significant impact on local culture and livelihoods.
One of the interesting features that have stood the test of time in Lake Kazuni inside the Vwaza game Reserve is a hideout for animals and tourists along Lake Kazuni.
Edward Nthala from Bongolongo Chirambo Village, Traditional Authority Mphelembe, Mzimba is Zone 1 Village Natural Resources Committee Chairperson and explains what goes on.
“These trees produce fruits and animals come to eat the fruits. There is also a plant called depot that is loved by the animals and all animals gather here to eat the fruits, drink water and rest under the trees. Tourists come here and see the animals,” said Nthala.
At Chatumbwa Village, Traditional Authority Zolokere in Rumphi, Group Village Headwoman Chipendo underscores the importance of co-management of the Vwaza Marsh Wildlife Reserve between the community and the African Parks. Chief Chipendo further points out that before Vwaza Marsh was declared a protected area, every activity such as fishing and hunting of animals was being controlled by the community leaders through local conservation ways.
“It is important for us to take part in conserving Vwaza Marsh. We believe that this is our ancestral place because our first Chief Zolokere stayed in this forest and his grave is right here. When our children suffer from diseases, we come here and tap medicine. In one or two days, they are healed from the disease. When leaders speak to their ancestors, they listen to them and whatever problem that was before us disappears,” she said.
Echoing Chief Chipendo’s words is Senior Chief Katumbi of Rumphi, who says the declaration of the Vwaza Marsh as a protected area, in a way, impacted on their local preservation methods and cultural practices though some cultural activities are still practiced in the forest.
“We have some places which are no-go zone areas for ordinary people but Chiefs only. Sometimes if there is drought we go there and pray and rains come. There are a lot of cultural activities that we do there,” echoed Senior Chief Katumbi.
Youths are at the forefront of championing conservation practices in Vwaza Marsh. Sarai Phiri, who is the chairperson of Katikwi Youth Club, says each month, they conduct sensitization campaigns on the dangers of destroying the Vwaza Marsh.
“We know that whatever is in the Vwaza Marsh Wildlife Reserve belongs to young people so we jealousy safeguard the marsh. Between July and August every year, we gather all youth clubs around here to make firebreaks so that we protect the forest from wildfires. A lot of people are now aware of the importance of safeguarding Vwaza Marsh Wildlife,” said Phiri.
One can clearly see the unquenchable desire of the people of Zolokere and Kazuni to conserve the Vwaza Marsh Wildlife Reserve using local methods but in compliance with the set restrictions.
Joseph Karanja, a Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Network (BES-Net) project officer at UNESCO, says there is a connection between culture and conservation.
“Through this experience, we have found a very significant connection between people’s livelihood, culture, and the Vwaza ecosystem which includes the forest, Lake Kazuni, and the marsh. One of the key issues worthy of noting is that the people have ownership of the ecosystem found in Vwaza. Also, one other element that we have found here through the engagement with local communities is that they are not only resource users but also rights holders. They are custodians of the environment as they have crucial knowledge as well as cultural practices that can support conservation,” said Karanja.
A Senior Lecturer at Mzuzu University, Dr Wellman Kondowe, affirms that indigenous communities possess centuries of accumulated knowledge about biodiversity and ecosystem services, species and environmental changes.
“The wetlands here connect several bio-diversities as we have seen that there is aquatic life in Vwaza, so one can see that studying Vwaza only can connect the aquatic resources that are found in the marsh like fish and different types of trees so all of them are bringing together the natural resources that we are looking for as each one of them have a special connection to people’s lives.” said Kondowe.
Principal Environmental Officer in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Climate Change Dr Lillian Chimphepo says the ILK data collected will assist policymakers in gaining access to diverse perspectives, enabling them to be more informed, culturally sensitive, and effective in decision-making in ecosystem management and conservation.
One hopes that through shared knowledge, there will be a balanced act when it comes to the interests of both communities and protection of natural resources. That way, the next generation will indeed make it a habit to conserve the environment.
