How beekeeping is helping Zambia save its forests

Zambian farmers are using new beehives to earn new income while helping protect the country’s shrinking forests reported Africanews on November 12.

In Zambia’s rural Copper Belt region, beekeepers like Paison Nkunkwilwa are pioneering an eco-friendly approach to honey production that is helping to preserve forests. Nkunkwilwa owns several wooden “box” beehives which are relatively new to Zambia and they are used in harvesting three times a year.

Traditionally, honey harvesting in the region involved destroying trees. Local beekeepers would cut into wild hives in standing trees, damaging forest cover. But NGOs and businesses have now introduced these box hives, which allow bees to thrive without forcing deforestation.

The honey is sold commercially, offering beekeepers a source of income that competes with more destructive livelihoods, such as charcoal production or clearing land for agriculture. A 2023 study by Bees For Development found that this sustainable beekeeping model is driving stronger forest conservation locally.

“Bees need intact forests to pollinate flowers, and when beekeepers make an income from trees, they become conservationists,” explains Nkunkwilwa. He recalls that in his parents’ time, “there weren’t many people doing it and … there was a lot of trees – no one was burning charcoal then. These days we’ve been encouraged to stop burning charcoal.”

Deforestation remains a major environmental concern in Zambia. According to data from Global Forest Watch, the country lost 11 per cent of its tree cover between 2001 and 2024. While traditional beekeeping has contributed only modestly to this loss, clearing land for farming and producing charcoal are among the leading causes and timber production also plays a role.

Another beekeeper in the region, Cabson Lilanda, received free box hives from the honey company Mama Buci, which has distributed around 120,000 since 2010. “We used to be involved in traditional beekeeping, and we cut down trees. The difference now is that we are preserving trees. Bees now continue to get the flowers they need to make honey. So, we have seen that by conserving trees, bees have plenty of trees to make honey,” Lilanda says.

Lilanda and Nkunkwilwa take their raw honey to Treetop Honey in Ndola. Each hive produces about eight kilograms per year, and beekeepers are paid roughly $1 per kilogram.

Treetop Honey works in partnership with Mama Buci and its founder, Martin Zuch, notes that forest loss is a very real problem in Zambia. “When I first came here the forest cover was 67% of the country, now I think we’re down to 60%, and our beekeeping and our model is fighting against that,” he says.

Zuch adds that expanding beehive distribution and training helps local people understand that “chopping the trees down, making charcoal is really not great for the forest at all.”

Ecologists support this view, saying that the adoption of modern beekeeping is helping preserve forests and that protecting tree cover is also vital in the fight against climate change, as trees absorb carbon dioxide. Through this model, beekeepers are not just producing honey but acting as guardians of Zambia’s natural heritage.

Africanews and Maghrebi.org