Baseline study: country assessment of the state of the environmental movement in Malawi

This paper examines the obstacles that face the implementation of environmental policies in Malawi. The It presents some recommendations in order to advance the growth of environmental movement and its linkages with other players.

The paper shows that from mid-1990s, the environmental movement in Malawi has registered tremendous growth. The Government of Malawi has initiated many programmes to mitigate negative impacts on the environment such as review of legislation and policies. These new policies have created an enabling atmosphere for environmental advocacy by promoting cooperation between Government, local communities, NGOs and the private sector.

Nevertheless, in trying to bring about changes in environmental policies, the civil society encounters many problems: resistance to change, lacking of developmental component in conservation projects, the concentration of NGOs in the cities, and competing government priorities.

The paper concludes that civil society has a crucial role to play in environmental management in Malawi. However, the paper suggests some recommendations to enhance its effectiveness:

• civil society should commission an economic valuation exercise with the purpose of attaching monetary value to natural resources
• civil society organisations should build the capacity of their employees in terms of knowledge, skills and numbers
• the government should try and balance socio–economic development with management of the environment
• civil society organisations need to be focused in their advocacy work on policy issues
• civil society organisations should improve their work through collaboration by forming networks of environmental NGOs
• civil society organisations on the environment need to step up their advocacy campaigns that aim at integrating considerations of good governance and sustainable use of natural resources at all levels.