* The tournament uses sport to promote reforestation and raise awareness about the adverse effects of deforestation and climate change
* It kicks off on Saturday at Chawe Community Football Ground involving four teams, WICO v Katsonga and Chawe v Ntiya
* The next Football-4-Forest tournament is planned for Dzalanyama Forest in Lilongwe in November 2026
By Duncan Mlanjira
Every goal that will be scored during Zomba Plateau’s Football-4-Forest will earn 50 tree seedlings, which will be planted by Bon Voyage Club as part of promoting reforestation and raising awareness about the adverse effects of deforestation and climate change.
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The inaugural Football-4-Forest tournament has been initiated by Bon Voyage Club, which promotes domestic tourism and campaign awareness against deforestation that leads to climate change.
The tournament brings together four community football teams from around and on the magnificent Zomba Plateau — to take place on the forthcoming weekend of October 10-11, 2026, at Chawe Community Football Ground, deep within the forests on Zomba Plateau.
In a statement, Bon Voyage Club co-founder, Chimwemwe Nyirenda, who is an executive member of the Super League of Malawi (SULOM), said “the tournament’s primary objective is to encourage tree planting and discourage unnecessary cutting of trees on Zomba Mountain”.
“The event will bring communities together through football while sharing key messages about the harmful effects of unnecessary tree cutting on Zomba Mountain.”
“Many players taking part have been directly or indirectly affected by the loss of trees on the mountain and we will use the tournament to engage communities on the effects of climate change and encourage both individual and collective responsibility for protecting the forest.”
Nyirenda symbolically handing over the matchball and tree seedlings to Chawe FC goalkeeper Silas Chinula and local organiser Bester Juma
On Saturday, the tournament will kick off between WICO FC and Katsonga FC at 13h00, followed by Chawe FC against Ntiya FC at 15h00.
On Sunday, the losing teams will compete for 3rd place play-off at 13h00, while the winners will meet in the final at 15h00.
And for every goal scored, Bon Voyage Club will donate and plant 50 trees, with the aim of planting at least 500 trees on the mountain.
Nyirenda added that his love for Malawi and concern about climate change had motivated him to support the initiative.
“I am deeply concerned about the rate at which trees are being cut down across the country. The situation on Zomba Mountain is getting worse.
“As their habitat and food sources disappear, monkeys are increasingly entering people’s homes in search of food,” he said, in reference to the invasion of monkeys into Zomba City.
Destruction of Zomba Mountain for its timber and charcoal production
This invasion is a direct testimony from the monkeys indirectly amplifying to humans that since their habitat has been heavily deforested, they have no alternative than to live and thrive alongside the human communities.
Bob Voyage Club announces that the next Football-4-Forest tournament is planned for Dzalanyama Forest in Lilongwe in November 2026 where it intends to plant the tree seedlings earned from the Zomba event during the tree-planting season, with guidance from officials at the Department of Forestry.
Meanwhile, a large scale tree nursery in Dzalanyama Forest Reserve is targeting to produce 11 million seedlings for the next planting season as part of efforts to restore degraded forests in Malawi.
Malawi News Agency (MANA) reports that the nursery, which covers about 34 hectares, currently has capacity for about 2.7 million seedlings at a time and is expected to strengthen the country’s ability to produce tree seedlings locally.
“Our forests are bare. The degradation has gone up very much, so we are looking at a capacity that is manageable to cover all the areas that have been degraded,” said chairperson for the Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources, Energy & Climate Change, Tiaone Hendry.
MP Tiaone Hendry
This was on Thursday during a tour of the facility by the committee, which had challenged the Ministry of Natural Resources to demonstrate its preparedness for the coming tree planting season.
Hendry stated that the committee was interested not only in the size of the nursery but also in how the seedlings would be distributed and planted in degraded areas across the country.
Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Natural Resources, Henry Njoloma said the nursery was intended to produce enough seedlings to support forest restoration efforts in Malawi and potentially supply other parts of the region.
“This nursery alone should be able to supply seedlings to all the forests in Malawi, but also the region in Africa,” Njoloma said, adding that government was also considering increasing the range of tree species produced at the nursery — including indigenous varieties, to ensure different areas receive appropriate species.
The nursery is currently producing varieties including Acacia polyacantha, locally known as nthethe, and Faidherbia albida, known as nsangu.
He said seedlings take about one month before being moved to the shade house, while plans are underway to introduce agroforestry and fruit tree species in another section under construction.
Officials also highlighted the need to reduce dependence on wood fuel, which remains one of the drivers of forest loss, while promoting alternative energy sources and sustainable harvesting of forest resources.—Reporting for MANA by Maryam Ibrahim
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