By Deborah Madeya:
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Climate Change says Malawi’s tree survival rate has averaged 66 percent over the past eight years.
The ministry’s spokesperson Tikondane Vega told The Daily Times that between 2016 and 2024, the country planted over 400 million trees, of which approximately 280 million have survived.
Vega said much as it was impossible for a country to achieve 100 percent survival rate, there was room for improvement, which could be chalked through the implementation of community-led ownership initiatives.
“Improving tree survival rate in Malawi requires focusing on post-planting care by protecting seedlings from livestock, watering during dry spells and planting at the start of the rains,” he said.
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Vega added that about 15 million tree seedlings have, so far, been planted in the 2025-26 season, expressing optimism that the country would reach at least half of its target by the end of February.
“The figures could have been more but the dry spell we had three weeks ago affected the planting exercise. But with the rains [falling again] now, planting has commenced and we are likely to beat the target of 41 million [tree seedlings] by the end of April,” Vega said.
Commenting on the issue, environment management advocate Maloto Chimkombero said the survival rate was not impressive because the country needed 125 million trees to be planted per year to curb land degradation.
Chimkombero further said it is possible to go beyond the 66 percent survival rate with proper interventions such as proper tree planting techniques, sensitisation on how to take care of tree seedlings after being planted, among other measures.
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“This country is losing more trees than the ones that are being planted each year and that is why there is a need for over 100 million trees to be planted and the survival rate has to be over 90 percent at least. Trees are being planted each and every year but climate change is still an issue. This shows that we need to do more than just planting trees,” he said.
The 2025-26 tree planting season, underway, was launched on January 16, 2026 by Second Vice President Enoch Chihana under the theme ‘Trees and Forests for Community Resilience’.
