Environmental problems in Malawi

Pulling the plug on the lake

Lake Malawi may be the country's most precious resource, but a host of threats are slowly decreasing its economic and ecological importance. Forests also have much to fear.

Overfishing

Due to overfishing, the fish populations in Lake Malawi are declining dramatically. If the present trend continues, the whole colourful diversity of cichlid fishes may be completely gone in a few decades.

In addition to fewer fish and other species being caught, there is also a change in the size of some fish. The catfish kampango used to reach a length of more than 1m. Nowadays one seldom sees a kampango bigger than 0.5m, because the fish get caught before they grow to reach a bigger size.

Part of the problem relates to commercial large-scale fishermen with their efficient trawlers. But small-scale fishing is often unsustainable too.


Deforestation

Charcoal burning, slash and burn cultivation, and tobacco curing are cutting into Malawi’s remaining forests. These activities, along with logging, are destroying wildlife habitat.

On the plains between deforested areas the water table has become shallower because there are no trees left to pump the water to the atmosphere. Direct sunlight on the soil surface increases the amount of water loss to the atmosphere from the now shallow water table. This leads to salt buildup in the soil layers and the progressive reduction in soil fertility.


Exotic species

The water hyacinth is choking Lake Malawi, while exotic timber species, such as pines, wattles and eucalyptus are reducing mean annual run-off because they take up more water than indigenous species.