By Lekereni Chinkhota

Salima, May 5, Mana: Salima District Council and communities surrounding Kuti Wildlife Reserve Friday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) as a measure of conserving and protecting the natural resources in and around the reserve.

The signing ceremony took place in area of Senior Chief Kalonga and was facilitated by Assemblies of God Care (AG Care) Malawi in collaboration with the District Forestry Office.

Speaking during the signing ceremony, Executive Director of AG Care Malawi, Brown Banda underscored the importance of stakeholders to work collaboratively in conserving the reserve. 

“We work with communities for sustainability of our projects and we engage communities to take ownership of whatever interventions we are doing," he said.

Banda said the signing ceremony was symbolic because they have already been working with the communities for a long time to conserve the natural resources around their areas.

He added that, “The communities were able to protect the forest but there was no commitment that was made or had with the district council. But now we feel they will abide by the regulations and all the procedures put together and harmonize all forest reserves in terms of how they are operating.”

The Director said that communities have started taking ownership in terms of managing natural resources and they are showing their commitment to work with the government in conserving the wildlife reserve.

Chairperson for Salima District Council, Chifungo Katoweka said the MOU would bring together the communities and the council to work towards the protection of Kuti Reserve.

“We have been receiving many cases involving the Kuti Wildlife Reserve. Today, the chiefs with help from AG Care have led their people in an agreement to protect the reserve.

"We believe that we will now work in peace together in conserving the reserve without conflicts from either side," he said.

Katoweka noted that, "There were misunderstandings between the Kuti management and the surrounding communities that fueled the deforestation and destruction of the reserve. Salima District Council will be overseer of the MoU to make sure that Kuti is being protected even when the partners leave their areas."

Senior Chief Kalonga emphasized that the MoU would bring peace and promote collaborative working environment that will benefit the people and the reserve.

“We will follow the signed MoU to keep the promise of protecting Kuti and all wildlife reserves in Salima with all its natural resources. The MoU will help us to work well with different partners that will share with us the same vision of protecting the reserve,” he said.

Kuti Management promised to give back to the community by helping them with farming and empowering them to find other means of generating income.

The signing ceremony took place at Senior Chief Kalonga’s headquarters in the district, it will be extended to Traditional Authorities (TAs) Kambwiri and Chisamba in the subsequent days.