Nkalazi Primary School in the area of Traditional Authority Kunthembwe in Blantyre is leading in Sustainable Land Management (SLM) activities, courtesy of the World Bank-funded Malawi Watershed Services Improvement Project (MWASIP).
Under the project, Blantyre District Council established Wildlife and Conservation clubs in schools in the area of T/A Kunthembwe to inculcate environmental conservation activities among learners.
Chimwemwe Gulumba, a Standard 7 and 8 teacher at the school, discloses that following the Wildlife and Conservation training, which he attended in 2023, great strides have been made at the school as far as SLM activities are concerned.
“We were advised to establish wildlife clubs in our respective schools and practice SLM activities such as tree planting, gully reclamation, managing natural trees, construction of swales and stone bands to restore the degraded landscapes,” he states.
Gulumba stresses that he did inculcate the same message to his learners, such that, reaching this far, his learners do practice the SLM activities around the school campus.
Aubrey Katona, a Standard 8 learner at the school, attests to the fact that he now understands the importance of planting trees and taking care of the overall environment.
“We have our own forest where we plant trees and also carry out other forest management activities like pruning and making fire breaks.
“We do this willingly because we know that trees help us in so many ways, like giving us oxygen and also bringing rain,” he says.
On the other hand, Lita Majidu, says she is able to teach her parents at home the knowledge she has acquired on sustainable land management from her teacher.
“I teach them how to plant trees, practice mulching, construct swales and stone bands to protect and restore the environment, and they have since appreciated the benefits,” she says.
The learners, in unison, are grateful to MWASIP for taking SLM activities to their school.
In 2023, Blantyre District Council, through MWASIP, trained about 100 Primary Education Advisors, Head teachers, and some teachers from various schools in Kunthembwe area on SLM activities. The training eventually led to the formulation of wildlife and conservation clubs in their respective schools.
So far, about 13 schools in Kunthembwe where MWASIP is implementing its activities have well-established wildlife and conservation clubs.