The Lilongwe City Council says a total of 980 trees have been felled along the M1 road to pave way for road expansion projects.
In addition, a total of 316 mibawa trees and 85 gmelina trees will be removed from Kenyatta Drive where road expansion is also taking place.
According to the council, the mibawa trees will be used for making desks for schools in the city as a legacy and to support the education of children in the city.
The Department of Forestry has since expressed concern over the large scale cutting of trees.
However, the department has also said that it has received assurance from the City Council that plans are in place to start putting back the lost trees and biodiversity through replanting.
The planting of new trees is expected to start in the 2021/22 rainy season.
“We are committed to ensure that the City Council implements the restoration plan and that suitable avenue trees will be planted this rainy season, along all the streets and roads where trees have been lost,” the department of forestry said in a statement.
some of the trees that are being cut are really far from the road, which is puzzling me and yes replanting sounds like a good idea but we have to consider the time frame it will take for such trees to grow and we are also toking about global warming Weren’t we so is it really a good idea to do so.