LocationsHow the People of Kazungula, with Support from UNDP and the Government of the Republic of Korea, Are Fighting Deforestation
Trees: The Ancients of Life
October 12, 2026
Member of the Katombora Community Forest Management Group holds a tree during a training on sustainable forest management
Photo by: Mulapwa Mukopole/UNDP Zambia
Trees are the most patient providers on earth. They ask for nothing, yet for centuries they have given humanity everything: rain, shade, food, medicine, and the very air we breathe. In Zambia, forests have sustained communities and supported the country's economy for generations. But today, they are vanishing at an alarming rate.
Between 2000 and 2023, Zambia lost nearly 88,000 square kilometres of forest cover, at an annual deforestation rate of 0.93%. The consequences extend far beyond the forests themselves. As trees disappear, so too does their ability to absorb carbon, regulate rainfall, protect soils and sustain the ecosystems on which agriculture and livelihoods depend. Every tree that falls takes with it a piece of the climate shield that communities and the country depend on.
For rural communities, however, the impact is particularly severe because their daily lives are closely tied to the forests around them. Rural poverty in Zambia stands at 78.8%, and female-headed households are the hardest hit, with a poverty rate of 83.4%.Forests support 60% of rural Zambian households and provide at least 1.4 million jobs, yet those living closest to the trees remain among the most vulnerable. Poverty pushes people to cut trees for income and energy, while forest loss further weakens livelihoods, deepening a cycle that does not break itself.
His Royal Highness Chief Sekute of Kazungula District has watched this happen from the heart of his chiefdom along the Zambezi River. He has seen rainfall patterns shift, harvests thin, and the land grow harder.
"Trucks loaded with cut trees and bags of charcoal drive through here every day, most of them without even permit papers," he lamented. "The forest is being stolen in broad daylight."
That reality is precisely why the Katombora Community Forestry Management Group matters.
Supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Government of the Republic of Korea, and implemented by Zambia's Forestry Department under the Ministry of Green Economy and Environment, the project allocated over 10,000 hectares of land to the Katombora community to manage and protect. This means the community has a direct role in deciding how the forest is used, conserved and monitored, while promoting sustainable use of its resources and discouraging destructive practices such as uncontrolled tree cutting. The same work is simultaneously underway in Kasempa District.
A community that knows its forest understands the benefits it provides, from food and medicinal plants to products that can generate income, while also recognising its role in protecting the environment and sustaining livelihoods.
To fully realise and manage these benefits, however, communities need the right knowledge and skills. Therefore, the project trained 50 people from Mandia, Nakawa, Namukaba, and Koma in financial literacy, entrepreneurship, governance, leadership, and natural resource management. Of those trained, 60% were women and 30% were youth.
The sessions were alive with purpose. Storytelling, role-play, and group discussions in local languages. Participants learned to budget, plan businesses, manage natural assets, resolve conflicts, and lead their communities.
The purpose was not simply to build knowledge, but to help communities develop sustainable ways of earning from the forest without destroying it. They were also trained in value addition to forest resources such as wild fruits, honey, and herbal medicines, learning how to process and package them into products that could be sold at higher prices to generate income, improve food security and reduce dependence on cutting trees for survival.
In the process, the community is beginning to see the forest differently: not simply as a source of timber or charcoal, but as a living resource that can provide food, medicine and sustainable income, while protecting the land and climate on which future generations depend.
Peter Malambo, a farmer from the Mandia Zone, was among those trained. "If this rate of tree cutting continues, our grandchildren will only read about forests in books. There will be nothing left to show them," he said.
Ireen Likokoto from Namukaba Zone echoed her concern, but with fresh resolve. “We have been given knowledge, and with that knowledge we will guard this forest jealously, because we now understand what it is truly worth to us, to our children, and to the climate."
"Zambia is experiencing climate change driven by high deforestation and forest degradation, among others, but with support from the Republic of Korea, the Katombora Community Forest Management Group has been formed to protect and conserve the forest because reducing deforestation and forest degradation means working with the communities living adjacent to the forest," said Esther Nkomo, UNDP Seoul Policy Centre Community Forestry Project Project Manager.
Zambia's 8th National Development Plan recognises forests as a critical driver of economic growth, environmental sustainability, and climate resilience. The country's REDD+ Strategy further commits to reducing greenhouse gas emissions through improved forest management and ensuring that communities living inside and around those forests share the benefits.
The Katombora project is not separate from these national ambitions; it is where those ambitions become real, on the ground, in the hands of the community.
Zambia's forest sector already contributes 5.2% to GDP and employs over one million people. With thriving community forestry, forests can support climate action, strengthen food security and create sustainable incomes for rural families.
In Katombora, that future has already begun. These trees, the ancients of life, have stood for centuries, and now, they have a community that understands their value and is ready to protect and benefit from them.
Hear from the community members:
