WAG scores better on wildlife, human conflict reduction

Wildlife Action Group (WAG) has been commended for its efforts towards ending Wildlife, Human conflicts in communities surrounding Thuma Forest Reserve in Salima district.

Tembo and Clifford

MALAWI: Wildlife Action Group (WAG) has been commended for its efforts towards ending Wildlife, Human conflicts in communities surrounding Thuma Forest Reserve in Salima district.

Malawi’s Minister of Forestry and Natural Resources, Nancy Tembo, commended the group on Tuesday during an official tour of the reserve in the district.

Tembo said, “The reserve, which has a great stock of elephants, was considered as an enemy by the communities due to previous rampancy of wildlife interference with communities surrounding the reserve a development she described as history.”

WAG Director, Lynn Clifford, said, “Through the Thuma Forest Reserve Eco-system Rehabilitation Project, WAG aims at protecting its flora and fauna and restoring its ecological balance in co-operation with the communities around Thuma.”

The reserve was gazetted in 1926 and it covers an area of roughly 19700 ha (197 km2) in the Great Rift Valley Escarpment near Lake Malawi, approximately 80 km from Malawi's capital Lilongwe.

With support from the Modern Cooking for Healthy Forests in Malawi (MCHF) Project, the tour was arranged as an interface to share success stories, challenges, and restoration plans for the reserve.