The ministry's spokesperson Frank Nkondetseni told Zodiak Online on Tuesday that in line with the 2020 Amended Forestry Act, the Department has also forfeited to government 27 vehicles for trafficking charcoal while five were returned after a successful appeal.

Nkondetseni said though the issues of forest crimes and penalties stipulated in the Amended Act have been one of topical issues in the past months, the law has been in place all along and that the enforcement of the started in November 2020.

Nkondetseni, while indicating that areas close to cities and urban are the hotspots, said the ministry is not interested in the fines but total mindset change to preserve forests because they are the country’s assets. 

Environmentalist Mathews Malata, while calling on the Ministry of Energy to ensure Malawians have reliable sources of energy, hailed the strong collaboration between the forestry department and the courts for according such crimes seriousness they deserve.

"We commend the courts for this as they are able to take cognisant of the fact that forestry crimes are given seriousness they deserve. And we also need to commend prosecutors, forestry officials that have been working hard on this," Malata said.

According to Nkondetseni, the enforcement of the Act has been facing a challenge as many people think they have the right to harvest forest as they please.

The forest crimes now carry a penalty of up to K10 million fine and up to 20 years in prison depending gravity of the offence.