Malawi needs 160 million trees to reverse environmental degradation.

Malawi needs to plant 160 million trees annually to reverse the current environmental degradation the country is going through due to poverty which is forcing citizens to carelessly cut trees nationwide for sale as fuel-wood, Secretary for Energy, Mines and Environmental Affairs, Charles Msosa, said here on Wednesday.

Speaking in Lilongwe on Wednesday during a two-day National Conference on Land Sustainable Management, he said Malawi will slowly become a desert if issues of tree cutting and land are not looked into carefully.

“Most trees that are cut down are used in charcoal production and this has affected power generation. We, therefore, need to look at other sources of energy for us to preserve and manage our land resources effectively,” he added.

Currently, Malawi has a 7.5% access to electricity, which is far below the 20% SADC provision.

He bemoaned the tendency of cultivating on mountains and along the riverbanks, which he said, was illegal and must stop at all costs if Malawi is to conserve its land.

\"Enhancement of land is a priority to government, hence the need to work together towards the sustainability of the land,\" he explained.

The conference will, among other things, discuss Malawi’s vision on land management and how to upscale it and practical activities of up-scaling land management.