DZALANYAMA FOREST TREE PLANTING PROJECT
1.0 PROJECT AREA
Dzalanyama forest reserve is located to the south west of Malawi's capital district of Lilongwe. It was declared a forest reserve in 1922 with some parts of it being shared and bordered by the districts of Mchinji and Dedza and the whole of its western border forming the national boundary between Malawi and Mozambique (Munthali and Murayama, 2011). It is some 60 km from the capital’s city centre and lies between latitudes 14.18° and 14.61° S and longitudes 33.35° and 33.92° E. Sitting on a range of hills bearing the same name, Dzalanyama forest reserve covers approximately 935 km2 of land.[ Kondwani Godwin MUNTHALI 2013. Modelling Deforestation in Dzalanyama Forest Reserve, Lilongwe, Malawi: Using Multi-agent Simulation Approach.]
2.0 PROBLEM STATEMENT AND RATİONALE
Due to increased urban demand for charcoal, the forest has lost huge land cover over the years. Observed trends indicate that the forest cover as of 1990 was 65, 775 ha of which 22,031 ha were lost by the year 2010. According to a study conducted by Japan International Cooperation Agency in 2014, the biomass per hectare in Dzalanyama range now stands at 50 tons which is half of the volume that existed 20 years ago. The project area falls in Traditional Authorities Masula and Masumbankhunda in Villages like Beni. It is reported that approximately 25 million bags of charcoal are produced for domestic consumption in the capital city of Lilongwe. This poses a threat of the extinction of the forest range in the next 5-10 years.
A study conducted by Munthali showed that there is a positive correlation between deforested areas in Dzalanyama forest and proximity to rivers. This is due to earthmound traditional kiln approach used to produce charcoal in the forest. This molding is a process that requires plenty and readily available water.
There is approximately 40 % chance that household in food or cash deficit are forced to adopt charcoal production as a coping mechanism hence contributing to deforestation[ Kondwani Godwin MUNTHALI 2013. Modelling Deforestation in Dzalanyama Forest Reserve, Lilongwe, Malawi: Using Multi-agent Simulation Approach. ]. There are close to 10,000 households living around the forest whose livelihoods revolves around charcoal and wood production
It has also been observed that the drying up of the Lilongwe river is also caused by climate change in the region. The unprecedented heat being experienced also contributes to the drying up of the river and the dams. There is an issue of two problems affecting the water bodies. Firstly, siltation due to cutting down of trees and excessive heat due to climate change. To solve these problems the project would like to involve the households dwelling in the Dzalanyama forest in the planting of trees.
THE IMPORTANCE OF DZALANYAMA
Dzalanyama range is the source of the useful Diamphwe river which feeds in Lilongwe Dam 1 and 2. The Lilongwe Dams are the major source of water for domestic and commercial use in the capital city of Lilongwe. Due to the wanton cutting down of trees for charcoal production both the Diamphwe river and the dams are silting up. This leads to erratic supply of water in the district of Lilongwe.
BENEFICIARIES
Traditional Authorities Masula and Masumbankhunda in Lilongwe Rural, Malawi in Lilongwe district. . The beneficiaries include are out of school youth, women and men aged 18-70 years. They also include charcoal producers, sellers, small holder farmers and secondary schools like Malingunde.
3. GOAL
The goal of the proposed project is to promote engagement and participation of residence of Dzalanyama in climate change adaptation and mitigation through innovative tree planting initiative.
4. OBJECTIVES
1) Increased youth access to information, communication and coordination on climate change and environmental management
2) To train communities on better farming practices to prevent them from relying heavily on charcoal and wood as sources of income.
3) Reforestation in all the water shed areas along the rivers that supply water to Lilongwe river including Diamphwe river to reduce siltation of the river.
4) Build the capacity of Dzalanyama residents and their institutions in environmental management and climate change adaptation and mitigation.
5) To promote awareness and sensitization on environmental management and climate change.
6) To Promote the ‘growing of various trees’ such as bamboos and fruit trees for environmental rehabilitation and as a lifestyle
5. PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The proposed tree planting campaign, capacity building and awareness program is unique in terms of its focus on the crosscutting issues of climate change, diversity of participants, and relevance to the current needs of the target groups. This proposal details the different components; specific activities; methodology; expected results; and proposed timeframe of the capacity building program.
The project will be implemented over the one year period starting from 2017 to 2018. The project is composed of four main components addressing capacity needs across climate change adaptation and mitigation:
(i) Project Management
(ii) Consultation of stakeholders
(iii) Training
(iv) General awareness raising and communication
(v) Actual tree planting
(vi) Monitoting and Evaluation
(vii) Sustainability
(viii) Budget
.
Each component has several planned interventions.
6.1. PROJECT COMPONENTS
COMPONENT 1: PROJECT MANAGEMENT
I.ORGANIZATION BACKGROUND
Centre for Child Development and Research is a youth-led child and youth-focused local Non-Governmental Organization registered under the Trustees Incorporation Act in 2013 with a registration No. TR/INC 6007 and a member of CONGOMA in principal.
PROJECTS IN THE PIPLINE
Currently CCDR is implementing the following projects; mainstreaming youth in the fight against HIV/AIDS with support from UNAIDS, Kalondolondo wa a Bambo- a project supporting men and children seek medical treatment at health centres, I-Klabs- a project supporting use of technology in Malawi and elimination of child labour in Tobacco Farms. We also have some projects in the pipeline such as Fish Farming project in Nkhotakota, Green Belt Initiative along Lake Malawi, Youth and and Irrigation Agriculture in Lilongwe, Water Cultivation in Blantyre, Youth Governance in several districts and Water and Sanitation projects in several schools in Malawi district with support from Charity Aid.
CCDR will be supported by National Youth Network on Climate Change (NYNCC) in Malawi. NYNCC is a youth led network of different organizations working on climate change adaptation and mitigation in Malawi. NYCC will mobilise the youth in Dzalanyama forest community to participate actively in the project.
II.PROJECT MANAGEMENT
To ensure that the Project runs smoothly CCDR will assign a special project management team to concentrate on the project implementation.
Project Manager: to give overall direction of the Project and help in tracking the project through monitoring, reporting and evaluating every single move.
Finance and Administration Officer: Manage the funds for the Project.
CCDR will also work hand in hand with various stake holders at district as well as community levels.
COMPONENT 2: CONSULTATIONS AND STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS
The project will ensure full participation of stakeholders from the planning to implementation phase. An initial consultation with relevant stakeholders will help identify the gaps in youth participation in environmental management and contribute towards the framing of the proposed initiatives. The first phase of the project will include consultations with various stakeholders including the Chiefs, Agricultural Extension workers, PEA, Education Offices (District Education Manager, DEM, and Division manager), District Forest Officers (DFO), Lilongwe Water board Officials and the Forest Research institute of Malawi (FRIM). Schools and communities that will participate in the project will be selected and approached.
COMPONENT 3: TRAINING AND EDUCATION ON ADAPTATION AND MITIGATION
I. Expected Result 2:
Increased knowledge and skills on environmental management and Climate Change adaptation and mitigation around Dzalanyama forest reserve.
II. Key indicators:
- 100 youths leaders trained in environmental management and are active in providing training in the topics related to environmental management and climate change adaptation and mitigation.
- At least 1000 people from villages in the Dzalanyama forest trained in topics related to environmental management and climate change adaptation and mitigation.
- A substantial increase in the understanding of training participants on key adaptation and mitigation issues, including community-based adaptation, carbon markets and REDD.
III. Activities:
- TOT training of youth leaders for selected schools, youth NGOs and Clubs.
Training of trainers (ToT) is important to build up training capacity for the program in the future and to ensure the sustainability after the program ends. The idea is to set up a group of trainers who will be able to provide training for the other people. These will also be the key persons in designing environmental management and climate change projects and integrating climate change issues in future programs in their respective organizations.
- Training of 1000 residents in Dzalanyama Forest reserves.
COMPONENT 4: TREE PLANTING AND MANAGEMENT
I.Expected Results 3
Promoted ‘growing of trees’ for environmental rehabilitation and as a lifestyle.
Promoted rehabilitation and conservation of Dzalanyama Forest and Diamphwe river.
II. Key Indicators
- One million (1,00,000) trees planted in Dzalanyama forest reserve, and along the river banks of Diamphwe river
- 30 Small tree nurseries set in all participating schools, communities and districts.
- 5000 books, posters, flyers on environment, nursery making manuals, rain water harvesting and conservation farming distributed in schools and targeted communities
- Improved tree survival rates through follow up activities such as weeding, pruning, construction of firebreaks
I.Activities
- NYNCC will facilitate and coordinate the distribution of seedlings to Dzalanyama and other surrounding sites earmarked for the program. The personnel will hold demonstrations in the various targeted sites that include Dzalanyama, school compound and communities and monitor at least every month.
- A massive tree planting exercise will be orchestrated by an awareness rally which shall be done at the start of national tree planting season.
COMPONENT 5: FOLLOW UP ACTIVITIES
There shall be follow up activities after initial tree planting to improve the survival rate of planted trees. These activities will also target natural and artificial forests. And some of the planned activities shall be:
- Construction of firebreaks
- Weeding
- Pruning
COMPONENT 6. MONITORING AND EVALUATION OF THE PROJECT
The monitoring and evaluation of this project aims at achieving projected results and quality control. Monitoring indicators of project activities will be reviewed during the planning workshop at the beginning of the project and reviewed/adjusted during annual planning workshops. Activity monitoring will take place as program interventions occur. Program outputs and risks will be monitored as part of the quarterly discussion and reporting to the management. Progress towards Component Objectives and sustainability will be monitored as part of this process. The mid-term review and the evaluation scheduled by the end of the program will measure progress against all component objectives, purpose and goal and the strength of the sustainability strategy.
The CCDR secretariat together with the donor (partner) will regularly monitor the achievement of targets set against the indicators developed at the beginning of the program.
Activity monitoring – all program activities will be monitored on a regular basis based on the expected outcome.
i. On-going collection of capacity-building indicators: Using the needs assessment as a guide, the CCDR Secretariat will identify key gaps in existing knowledge on climate change and environmental management among youth leaders and management, compiling target competencies into a comprehensive checklist. The understanding, ability, and confidence of participants on these key areas will be assessed against this checklist before and after training activities.
iii. Gender mainstreaming – gender analysis and responses to gender inequality has been integrated into the program’s design, including the M and E processes. Men and women’s and boys and girl’s participation and benefit will be actively monitored.
iv. Mid Term Review – This process will take place during the second year of the project and be managed by NYNCC secretariat and CCDR and undertaken by partner institution, in consultation with other relevant stakeholders. Beneficiary groups will be the primary focus of this process. It will assess progress towards component objectives, achievements against the indicators and the efficacy of the sustainability strategy and to examine early program impacts.
v. Final Evaluation – a final evaluation of the program activities and outputs will take place in the last six months of the program life span. It will be conducted by an external evaluator appointed by the donor (partner) with contribution from NYNCC and CCDR. The evaluation will assess program achievement against objectives and purpose indicators. It will look at the final impact of the program in terms of significant or lasting changes on the target groups and the indirect beneficiaries brought about at least in part, by the program’s activities. Special attention will be paid to the degree to which knowledge of environmental management and climate change concepts and best practices in adaptation and mitigation have been integrated into the work of partner organizations and CCDR and NYNCC.
vi. Reporting - Regular reports will be prepared according to the Donor’s (partner) standard format and timeframe (both narrative and financial) and submitted to the Donor. NYNCC Secretariat will be responsible to the Donor (partner) on the fund they applied for and also will be responsible for the reports of their activities with the support of the technical consultants. NYNCC board with the support of the national coordinator will be answerable to the Donor for any question regarding the implementation of program activities.
COMPONENT 7. PROJECT SUSTAINABILITY
The tree planting project, awareness and capacity building program is intended to meet the needs identified by the community itself, therefore NYNCC and CCDR expect a high level of participation of both the youth and the general community in the project. In addition the extensive community structures will enhance both youth and community participation and ownership of the project. The tree planting campaign, Capacity Building and awareness Program is expected to run over a two year period coordinated by a Programme Coordinator within CCDR.
In addition support to be provided by government officials such Lilongwe water Board and the Ministry of Forestry will ensure that the benefits of the project are safeguarded and the project have has a long term impact for both the people in Dzalanyama and Lilongwe.
COMPONENT 8: BUDGET
$100,000
HOW WILL THE COMMUNITY ASSIST
The Centre for Child Development and Research secretariat, National Youth Network for Climate Change (NYNCC) together with the school authority and community members will regularly monitor the survival rates of the trees in the woodlot and participate in monitoring and evaluation of the project
The community Trainers of Trainers will assist in training community members in tree planting and management. The whole community beneficiaries will also provide labour in planting trees.
Malawi