The rainy season is almost at a peak and so is the annual national tree planting spree. As usual, the rainy months dedicated to making Malawi green again got underway with an ambitious target to plant 41 million trees in degraded spots. This is not surprising for the country, whose National Forestry Landscapes Restoration promises to make 4.5 million degraded hectares green again by 2030.
However, it appears uncurbed ambition to balance the figures has left the nation sleepwalking into a costly crisis: Wasting billions as both authorities and ordinary Malawians appear to only mind the numbers, not the trees that grow to replace those annihilated by the rapidly growing population. There was more of the same in 2025, the 20th anniversary of the memorable day when a bold Bingu wa Mutharika travelled to Rumphi Catholic Primary School and planted a tree that wilted to announce a switch from what used to be a national tree planting day to the season under scrutiny. Malawi closed 2025 bragging that it had planted millions of trees, but most of the seedlings were dead and buried soon after the guests of honour and camera-armed journalists returned to their bases.
As the 2024–25 tree planting season opened, politicians, pupils, civil servants and non-governmental organisations spread across bare spots, including hillsides and school grounds, with hoes in hand and seedlings in black polythene tubes. Speeches were made and photos taken. The President announced a lofty target of 40 million trees with a familiar promise to heal the forests and lessen climate shocks.
[paywall]
But on the ground, the green cover was thin and many wonder: Where are the trees planted this year? Department of Environmental Affairs spokesperson Tikondane Vega says only 60 percent of the trees planted this year survived. Some researchers report that up to half of the seedlings go to waste due to lack of care and obsession with tree-planting ceremonies, not what it takes to ensure each grows and thrives.
Across hillsides and community grounds, young trees are left unattended, consumed by livestock and summer fires. In many places planting ended where ceremonies ended.
[/paywall]
