Problem exist analysis: Degradation of land and natural resources in Nyika National Park and Vwaza MarshGame Reserve is highly influenced due poverty, charcoal, flue curing, firewood, harmful bush fires and tobacco growing as the major causes to loss of biodiversity in the area. Almost 85% of the people within the border zones of Nyika and Vwaza Marsh Game Reserve sorely depend on agriculture. The population grows at 2.9% per year and this, combined with rural-to-rural migration from densely to sparsely populated areas, means farmers often have no way to tackle their food insecurity and expand their operations except to cut woodland on customary land or to encroach upon the forest reserves as a means of looking for fertile land. This has threatened stock of biological diversity, and reduces the actual and potential forest goods and services on which its people can draw for social and economic development to reduce poverty.
High Dependency: (four fifths of the entire population depends on agriculture) on natural resources: depend on natural resource endowment for a living as sources of fuelwood, poles and timber, bamboo, crafts, thatching grass, medicines, spices, flowers, cosmetics, edible fruits, tubers, vegetables, mushrooms, fodder, and extractives (dyes, oils, gums, latex, and resins). Grass is used extensively for thatching, especially in rural areas, while in the lakeshore region there is a flourishing handicraft industry based on the indigenous species.
Threats: The primary threats to biodiversity and direct causes of ecosystem service degradation in the Rumphi districtare: Pressure on land through rural-to-rural migration from densely to sparsely, population growth, four times more people per square kilometre than Sub-Saharan and Wood fuel (firewood and charcoal) remains the dominant source of energy. Overexploitation: Many depend on forest resources for their survival. The same applies to the marine resources. Due to fast changes in socio-economic development and population growth, the consumption habits of Rumphi urban people are also changing. In addition, transportation networks have also improved opening up outside markets. These changes have motivated overexploitation of timber, medicinal plants and wildlife.
Climate Change: Rumphi district is particularly sensitive to climate change, and is one of the districts in the Northern Region predicted to be most negatively impacted by climate change. Ecosystems weakened by fragmentation are less resilient to the impacts of climate change and more vulnerable to mass species loss. The increase in temperature will change geographic distribution of many ecosystems and population structure of species as species loss and migration increases. Increased temperatures are also likely to increase the frequency and severity of forest fires.
Invasive Species: Nyika National Park, about 60% is covered by Miombo woodland, evergreen forest is around 3%, and the remaining 37% consists of Montane grassland and dambos, for which the area is best known. Around 1800 plant species have been recorded for the plateau, with a large proportion of these being found in the montane grasslands, including most of the 33 known endemic and 13 near-endemic species (species only found on the Nyika and/or adjacent upland areas). Nyika's grassland flora that forms its main conservation interest. However, a significant threat to this biodiversity comes from invasive plant species (IAS), all of which (apart from bracken Pteridium aquilinum) are non-native. The most problematic species in this regard are considered to be the Mexican Weeping Pine Pinus patula and the Himalayan Raspberry Rubus ellipticus, although Black Wattle Acacia mearnsii can be locally abundant near drainage lines close to where it was first introduced. In addition, it is known that Wattle and Rubus are difficult to eradicate owing to long-lived seeds remaining in the soil. Widespread Pinus patula and Acacia mearnsii, which was locally abundant near to drainage lines. These two species are changing the ecology of the grassland and shrubland in places. A recent study in 2021 on the effects of this clearance showed that native grassland plants had difficulty in re-establishing, especially as Rubus ellipticus colonises aggressively. Bracken fern, Pinasputula , Black Wattle and black jack are the most common invasisve species outside and inside Nyika National Park that the project need to remove to allow more grassland to be restored. These problems have been there now more than 15 years. It is against this backgroung that Rumphi Residents Association would want to implement a project titled: Ecological restoration of the border areas of Nyika National Park and Vwaza Marsh Game Reserve?