Deforestation...

Malawi is a beautiful scenic country and when I came to the northern region 7 years ago we had the third largest manmade forested area of 53 thousand hectares at Chikangawa. During the past 5 years only one company who owns 20,000 hectares has been managing the forest properly and in the last 2-3 years most of the rest of the forest has been chopped down. What was once a beautiful vast area of green trees is now barren land. It has been said that if replanting is not done quickly, Malawi could become a desert in the next 50 years!

But if you are poor and you can sell some wood to make a living, or you need firewood for your fire to cook your food on, you have no choice but to find it wherever you can.

This guy, and many like him go daily to the forest and chop down trees in order to make a small living. They walk for miles with their bicycles and some ride them up and down mountainous roads - I am not sure how they manage to balance them or push them up the hills as they must be so heavy!

I wonder what they will do when there are no trees left to chop!