By Lekereni Chinkhota

Salima, March 11, Mana: As one way of conserving the environment and protecting natural resources at Kuti Wildlife Reserve in Salima District, Assemblies of God Care has underscored the importance of stakeholders and community members to collaborate in implementing interventions.

Speaking during an interface meeting that took place over the weekend at Kuti Wildlife Reserve, Assemblies of God Care Programs Manager Davis Mtoseni said the meeting was organized to address the chaos that Kuti management has been having with the surrounding communities that led to rampant deforestation.

“As Assemblies of God Care, we are satisfied and thankful that the meeting has been fruitful. The resolutions made have impacted us as an organization because we want the relationship between communities around and Kuti management to be stronger.

“The meeting has come on time to calm down the chaos that has been between human and wildlife situation over the years, and the resolutions made will help us to move forward,” he said.

Mtoseni further said their goal is to conserve and protect what is available and restore what has been lost, citing that natural resources help people achieve various interventions easily.

Concurring with Mtoseni, Acting Director of Natural Resources and Environment, Adam Jason, said it is important to take care of the wildlife reserve which has benefits to present and future generations.

“This meeting is a very beneficial one because it will help us conserve what is left in our wildlife reserve as we know that Kuti is under threat of extinction because people are cutting down trees illegally and without following any procedure,” he said.

In his remarks, Senior Chief Kalonga expressed joy that his communities have been welcomed again in the reserve and he promised to work together with the Kuti management.  

“We reviewed the situation of Kuti to prevent the continuation of the careless cutting down of trees in the reserve. The problem arose when the Kuti management did not want us to participate in the activities that they were doing.

“The eviction of the chiefs that happened opened doors for people to start destroying the reserve. But as of today, with the new management in place, we are sure that our involvement will restore the glory that we have lost in the past years,” he said.

Kuti Wildlife Reserve Manager Allan Ellof said the reserve offers tourism attraction, adding that, going forward, he will be involving the surrounding communities to work hand in hand with them to prevent future chaos.

“We will talk directly to the people in the communities not using intermediaries because we believe communication is the strong driver to make us work with each other. We want to have a fruitful relationship with the communities by providing them with new forms of energy,” he said. 

The meeting accommodated all stakeholders responsible for facilitating the conservation agenda of the wildlife reserve, which is experiencing rampant deforestation.

Assemblies of God Care, through the Malawi Conserve Project, which is being implemented around the wildlife reserve, sponsored the meeting.