 People often don't realise the importance of forests until they have disappeared. Ripple Africa is a charity working with local communities in Inkata Bay District in northern Malawi. We believe that local people are the solution and that they must be aware and empowered to manage their local environment more sustainably. Malawi's population is doubling every 25 years and in the last 20 years, since multi-party politics, most of the forests have disappeared, mainly due to clearing land for farming and also for firewood. We still have forested hills in our district, but people are coming from other parts of the country and settling in the forested hills and immediately clear the forests and burn the trees to open new farming land. The results are disastrous. When the hills are deforested, the top soil washes away with the first rains. This leads to serious erosion and soil degradation. The soil washes into the rivers and then into Lake Malawi and the silt is seriously affecting the fish reproduction in the lake. The communities in the district have a personal interest in forest conservation and together they, with the support of the district government structures, are keen to protect the forests. They recognise that the forests bring regular rains to the area, which are vital for their crops. The forests provide timber for building and firewood for cooking on their new improved cook stoves. They also provide food in the form of mushrooms and honey production. In short, trees can live without people, but people can't live without trees.