Pheeew! So the eventful 2022 is behind us. Oh what a year it was!

Allow me to get into something personal. Here is my declaration for the love of the mountains! As we closed 2022, the year which the United Nations dedicated to mountains [International Mountains Year], I sat back and reflected on the value I place on hills and mountains.

December 11 2022 was the International Mountains Day, and I gladly joined the commemoration which took place at the base of the Malawi Defence Force (MDF) parachute battalion in Salima

The seven hills of Senga Bay provided an opportunity to get fit again, make new friends and, most importantly, to appreciate Mother Nature, away from the hustle and bustle of keying in this diary entry.

As goes the hymn, When I look down from lofty mountain, I proclaim my God how great Thou art. The hike provided breath-taking views of Lake Malawi, especially the Kabumba Beach.

What is most striking about the hills is that the natural vegetation is intact here. Scarcely would you find a tree cut down or a whole wide area of forest lost to bush fire as is the case in most of the hills and mountains I have trekked in. As the commanding officer for the battalion Cliff Chafumbwa would tell you: “Patrols are heavy on the mountain and community engagement is just at another level!”

Truth be told, if Mulanje, Zomba, Ntonya, Chiradzulu and even Michiru just had the MDF protection, we could not be talking of the massive deforestation that has taken place. The first-time I went up Mulanje Mountain, the forest was dense. There were forestry workers and their families working hard to maintain it. The jovial workers, in the early 2000, said at Chambe that they would rather live up the mountain kuopa mabodza a dziko lapansi. They were actually living in paradise!

Two years down the line, going to the same Chambe basin, all the trees were cut down. The houses were deserted. If you looked further, you could see that some mining activity was going on. You could shed a tear to see that where there were trees, you find big rocks that had been dug out, the soil eroded. On inquiry, you would learn that some Chinese company was getting samples of rare earth. What happened to the tonnes and tonnes of the rare earth samples taken to China to this day is not known!

And another visit later to the CCAP Hut on the Lichenya Plateau, you would find the only mature Mulanje cedar on the mountain. Heavy plunder, led by political ingrained pilferage of massive measurement, led to the total loss of this Malawi’s national tree. You got it right, the tree that can only be found in Malawi can scarcely be found in Malawi!

Depletion of our mountains has not been about the wanton cutting down of trees or the uncontrollable bush fires, it has also been affected with absurd mining activities.

That mountains can provide a big tourism boost goes without saying. The other day, on the way to Sapitwa, we slept at Chisepo Hut. There were over 70 hikers, who included Minister of Tourism Michael Usi and musician Lawi. Usi, as far as I am concerned, is the first and last tourism minister to make it to Sapitwa. The weary and tired, but jovial Usi marveled at the sites and indicated it was, indeed, necessary to make the dream of cable cars a reality.

One can’t agree more. Not all who love sight-seeing are really keen on endurance tests. I, for one, I am a bundle of contradictions because although I live any small hike, I fear heights (which explains why a cable car would be the last option for me to enjoy a beautiful view).

More action is needed now to preserve the mountains, the very tanks for the water we drink, the water we use to generate electricity.

More action is needed now than never before to preserve the mountains and the biodiversity therein for the sake of prosperity.

It should not take the MDF to enforce the protection and conservation of our mountains. We need to value our mountains. The love for nature must be in our hearts everywhere. It is because we do not have the values that tell us using thin plastics is wrong that we still buy them although they are banned. Every time you use a thin plastic, take yourself as that drug abuser or rapist! Why break our own laws against environmental degradation?

And, while we are talking about everyone getting on board, the private sector has a big role to play in environmental protection. For one, I have a word for our mobile phone service providers: TNM and Airtel. Without the hills and mountains, these two companies could not have been making the zillions they make in net profits. When they see a hill, they see a fine spot to plant a tower to widen their customer base.

Yet, I may have missed it when one of these companies announced they have adopted this or that hill! The towers they make so much profits from are on bare hills and they can’t do just the needful to adopt some 30 hills and mountains in Malawi to make them evergreen as part of their corporate social responsibility?

As the year draws on a close, and we say goodbye to the Year of the Mountains, let the spirit of speaking and listening to the voice of the mountains continue being with us.n

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