By Levison Lester

Lilongwe, June 9, Mana: District Coordinator for Total Land Care, Malumbo Banda, has appealed to government to involve more women in restoring the endangered environment saying women are custodians of natural resources in the country.

In an interview with Malawi News Agency (MANA), Banda said women's perspectives are crucial in strengthening policies that help in sustaining the country's biodiversity as such, government should not exclude women in decision making processes.

"In Malawi, women are the main custodians of biodiversity and that automatically means they are custodians of Malawi's natural resources hence the need to involve them in the conservation and environmental protection.

"In times of climate crisis, women often wear the brunt of the impacts of climate change as such government, in partnership with Civil Society Organizations, should priorities gender mainstreaming in environmental and climate policies that ensure women's perspectives, needs and contributions are integrated into decision making processes and program implementation. For a society to be considered a thriving society, no group of people should be left behind," she said.

Banda said, apart from providing affordable clean sources of energy in rural areas, government should also embark on awareness campaigns to help change the people’s mindset towards environmental protection.

In his remarks, Programmes Coordinator for Sekelera Foundation, Abel Chilenga, said government should provide subsidies that can help rural citenzry to use clean sources of energy unlike imposing a ban on charcoal use.

He said aspirations and needs of people who live in rural areas should be at the center of policy implementation.

"The issue of environmental sustainability is crucial in achieving a self-reliant Malawi hence government should provide solutions that will ease pressure on the use of natural resources. “Together with stakeholders, government should priorities giving subsidies that will help rural masses to use clean sources of energy," he said.