2023 was a busy year for the Mulanje Landscape Restoration Project with several activities being undertaken, including:

• community nurseries being established around Ntonya and Matwika centres;
• community nurseries producing almost 15,200 seedlings;
• Mulanje Mission Hospital planting 20,000 trees in total across the project area and surrounding villages, including 4,500 as a result of their partnership with Greenpop;
• MMH planting approximately 2,000 bamboo in strategic areas to improve river bank stabilization;
• a total of 30 community members trained in beekeeping and provided with the necessary start-up equipment and materials; and
• Village Natural Resources Management Committee training.

These various activities have progressed the project towards meeting its intended outputs and outcomes, including:

• a reduction in gully formation in the project area;
• a reduction in flash flooding and siltation of the rivers and the streams in the project area, indicating an increase in infiltration;
• increased income for community members who were trained as beekeepers due to the sale of honey;
• increased survival rates of trees as a result of community training and increased care.

Mulanje Mission Hospital and Greenpop are continuing our partnership in 2024 and are excited for the next stage of this project, which will see a further 4,500 trees planted across the project areas.