Forests cover about 27 percent of the total land area of Malawi. The natural vegetation consists mainly of miombo woodland, an open canopy woodland dominated by leguminous Brachystegia trees. Seline's research aims to understand farmers’ perceptions of changes in tree cover and their attitudes towards deforestation and conservation of trees.

However, Malawi’s forests are rapidly disappearing, as the country has one of the highest rates of deforestation in the region. Using a time-series of aerial photographs and recent satellite images, the study evaluates how tree cover has changed in the study areas.

A quantitative survey was used to assess farmers’  perceptions of changes in tree cover and identify what they believe to be the most important drivers of deforestation in the area. The aim of the study is to better understand farmers’ motivations for planting trees and evaluate if it could be an effective strategy to reduce deforestation.

Firewood is the most common source of energy for cooking in Malawi, and it is believed to contribute to forest degradation. The survey results demonstrate that farmers who perceived natural forest cover to be low were less likely to collect firewood from the forest, but are more likely to plant trees on their land.

Charcoal production is contributing to the high demand for forest products in Malawi, especially in the proximity of urban areas. The survey results show that charcoal selling is an important source of income for farmers in northern Malawi, where a lot of people rely on trees from the forest to fulfil their livelihood needs.

Tobacco, Malawi’s main cash crop, is often blamed for accelerating the country’s forest loss, as it requires wood for the construction of tobacco sheds. The survey results reveal that although farmers’ attitudes towards deforestation were mostly negative, they were a poor predictor of the intention to cut down trees from the forest.

The majority of the population of Malawi are subsistence farmers whose main food crop is maize. Many of them are faced with major environmental challenges such as low agricultural productivity, climate change and high levels of deforestation. Planting trees can be a potential way to cope with these challenges, as it can improve soil conditions, store carbon and take the pressure off natural forests.

Clawdia joins a focus group discussion where a group of female farmers in the central region of Malawi talk about their perceptions and attitudes towards cutting trees from the forest, their motivations for planting trees, and the barriers which impede tree planting.

Clawdia was very warmly welcomed by the farmers and their families – especially the children were very fond of her!

Finally, Clawdia spends a couple of days enjoying the beautiful lake Malawi – a unique ecosystem known for its high biodiversity of fish species.