ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT IN MALAWI Andrew Sharpe (ES '93) I have been working in Malawi for the past two years as a secondary school teacher, and with the Coordination Unit for the Rehabilitation of the Environment (CURE), a newly established indigenous NGO. For those not familiar with Malawi, it is a small, landlocked, densely populated country in southern Africa, bordered by Mozambique, Tanzania, and Zambia. Malawi's rapid population growth has placed great pressure on its fragile land base, causing soil erosion, loss of soil fertility, and deforestation. These factors have lead to widespread poverty and food shortages. Malawi is undergoing a period of significant socio-political change with the introduction of democracy. This, coupled with renewed donor interest, has led to a flurry of environmental management initiatives, including: a National Environmental Action Plan, an Environmental Management Act, and the development of Environmental Impact Assessment Guidelines. Yet these initiatives have not yet addressed the root causes of environmental degradation in Malawi. Moreover, one must question the effectiveness of these judicial measures given the current government's failure to adhere to the current constitution. Rural Malawians, faced with chronic food shortages and livelihood insecurity, and lack of improved seeds and support services, are forced to unsustainably utilize their local resources in order to survive. Charcoal making from indigenous trees, monocropping maize on small land holdings and overfishing are but a few such examples. Environmental management in Malawi must provide rural Malawians with the tools and knowledge to make locally appropriate resource management decisions.In some cases, structures successfully used by First World nations can inform this process. Unfortunately, in its rush to emulate Western approaches to environmental management, the former have been given less priority. Non-Governmental Organizations in Malawi have been one of the strongest proponents of the establishment of community-level Natural Resource Management Committees. Environmental awareness training, coupled with community mobilization and organizational strengthening have proven successful in providing individuals and communities with a greater range of choices on how their resources should be utilized. This, together with refocussed donor interest, may yet provide the key to halting environmental degradation in Malawi. Andy Sharpe returned to Canada from Malawi in August and can be contacted at: R.R. # 2, Fredericton, NB, E3B 4X3.

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