Mulanje District Forestry Officer Eric Mbingwani says illegal timber producers are the major culprits in destruction of the tree which Malawi’s first President Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda declared it a national tree in 1984.

“We are continuing restoring cedar trees in the mountain under the Cedar Management Plan and Mulanje Mountain Conservation Trust (MMCT) has been a key partner in implementation of this plan,” said Mbingwani.

Speaking to Zodiak Online on Tuesday, Ibrahim Mitole who is the Programme Officer responsible for Biodiversity Conservation, Research and Monitoring at MMCT said in the plan, they had a target of planting 1.2 million trees in the mountain by 2019 but that did not happen.

“We have managed to plant 877,800 trees on a 665 hectare land since 2004 when the initiative started and among the challenges that affected the plan include poor germination of cedar seeds and inadequate resources,” said Mitole.

Meanwhile, environmental activist Mathews Malata says it is unfortunate that the country has failed to protect the tree.

“As a nation, we should be ashamed to have failed to protect this precious tree from extinction and now that the tree has gone, government and partners have to invest more in cedar restoration initiatives,” said Malata who is also one of the environmental sustainability champions for Malawi 2063 Vision.

According to Mr. Eric Mbingwani, forest fires and alien species have been affecting the growth and survival of planted trees in the mountain.