Dzalanyama Forest Lodge
Dzalanyama Forest Lodge, with land & Lake Safaris have established a number of conservation units in and around Dzalanyama Forest.
The Dzalanyama School Project
Started in 2003, we collaborated with other institutions to renovate and rebuild Dzalanyama School, located in the forest and accommodating both Malawi and Mozambique day pupils and boarders.
To Date we have built girls dormitories, eco-toilets, a boys dormitory and renovated another dorm. We do annual repairs and paintings to classrooms and ensure the school has ample reading, writing, sports and art materials.
Dzalanyama School now has a fully functioning library, their own wildlife club and should we need any help in developing the forest reserve, we ensure the programs we work with benefit directly.
The Kachere School Project
In 2017, we also started working with Kachere School, currently educating over 1,000 pupils around the region. Kachere School is located just outside the forest reserve.
To date we have built two new classrooms as well as done general repairs and painting of the other classrooms.
We offer volunteering placement opportunities at Dzalanyama and Kachere School. These cover teaching, building and community outreach and the money obtained goes straight back into the community to help with resources in order to maintain the school for future generations.
We coordinate small scale building projects in conjunction with International sponsors. Group volunteers that stay on for short periods at a time and assist with the projects. This is valuable to the success, development and progression of the school’s future.
The Dzalanyama Bamboo Project
We are in our third year delivering and planting culms to households and showing them how to nurture the plants to maturity. The next stage is to produce cost effective and fuel-efficient cooking stoves that use bamboo and to show communities how to cure the poles for building / furniture purposes.
We are looking to partner with relevant organisations to head out into the forest to monitor the deforestation; locate any charcoal kilns and illegal activity; check authorized logging permits and ensure they are not taking indigenous species; as well as identifying damaged areas, collecting seeds and monitoring any wildlife in the area
We want to establish a sustainable indigenous tree nursery and replanting system, using data collected by researchers; replant more areas (bamboo outside the forest in and around households) and indigenous trees and establish a method of working with authorised loggers to replant and preserve the commercial forest.
Above, from left: Kachere School Students helping move new bamboo saplings to the school Bamboo grounds. Middle: Land & lake Guide, Vasco teaching the students how to plant and care for Bamboo. Far right: Each household is encouraged to plant and care for their bamboo culms to support them in the future for fuel wood.