ABSTRACT
Deforestation is severe and widespread in Malawi and in particular in the Lake Chilwa Basin mainly due to human activities, such as setting fires, felling trees for charcoal making, fuel wood, curios and timber, and conversion of forests into agricultural farms. The high levels of deforestation and forest degradation are causing negative impacts on the availability of good quality water in large quantities, hydropower-generating capacity and, more broadly, vulnerability of rural communities to climate change. The Lake Chilwa Basin Climate Change Adaptation Programme (LCBCCAP) adopted the Drivers – Pressures – State – Impact – Responses (DPSIR) framework. The DPSIR framework describes a problem as a chain of causal links where responses are easily identified and implemented at each of these stages or steps of the casual links. Two themes were selected based on the DPSIR framework: ecosystems restoration and provision of forest products for improved community livelihoods. The programme promoted sustainable forest management in selected hotspots in order to keep the balance between three main pillars, ecological, economic and socio-cultural, ranging from safeguarding existing forests for regeneration, planting new trees including bamboos and riverine vegetation. Through these integrated initiatives, the programme has shown that deforestation in Africa is reversible only if social and economic needs of communities are taken care of through interventions that tackle both the drivers and the impacts of deforestation.
