Trees for All and PAMS Foundation have set up a new reforestation project in Tanzania’s Eastern Arc Mountains. Together with the locasls we are going to reforest 6,200 hectares of ground, in order to reinforce and protect its unique biodiversity.
hectares of land reforested
native species will be planted
participating farmers
villages benefit from the project
project duration
We are realizing this project together with PAMS and the local people. Our starting point is an integral approach at landscape level, which in practice boils down to three components that reinforce each other::
The first 200 hectares of forest have been planted already. In the next few years we want to enlarge our impact further and extend the project!
Together with the PAMS Foundation we support farmers when planting 120 different species of trees on their land. These trees are endemic to the Nguru Mountains, such as East-African mahogany and African teak. We also plant species which are all but extinct, such as Millettia sacleuxii.
By connecting existing stretches of forest, we extend the habitat of all sorts of plants and animals, such as the Nguru pygmy chameleon, Angolan colobus and Fischer’s chameleon. PAMS will monitor the biodiversity increase to be expected by means of innovative techniques, such as eDNA or bio-acoustic monitoring,
The forest restoration also provides work and income: people assist in the nursery, plant trees and maintaining planting locations. Furthermore, participating farmers will receive annual income for the land they make available and for maintaining the trees.
Numerous plants and animals benefit from the forest restoration, such as the Usambara three-horned chameleon, Flap-necked chameleon en Peacock tree frog.
Locals help in the nursery and plant the trees themselves.
Planting trees is not very useful if the very trees are felled for agriculture. And that is a risk: at the moment some farmers grow crops illegally in the forest reserve bordering on our project area.
For that reason we are going to coach farmers into using their land more sustainably by offering them an alternative: agroforestry. This is a form of forest farming, in which farmers plant trees interspersed crops, such as cardamom and vanilla. Thanks to the trees, the crops grow in the shade, which helps to increase their quality and market value. To this end, farmers are specifically trained by PAMS.
Agroforestry has all kinds of advantages for the climate, biodiversity and the people themselves. The trees absorb CO2, attract plants and animals and make for more fertile soil. Besides, an agroforestry lot harbors several species of crops. In case one species has a hard time as a result of drought or pest, a sufficient amount of other crops remains to live on. Thus we improve people’s food certainty and income. And best of all: because of this approach, farmers no longer need to tarnish surrounding forests..
(Re)planting trees is important, but protecting new and existing forest possibly even more so. For the sake of biodiversity, but also for climate and people in the region. As a result of deforestation, water provisions in the villages deteriorate and the soil gets less and less fertile. Drought increases on clear cut slopes. Growing food gets increasingly more difficult, causing decreasing food certainty.
In order to counter deforestation, PAMS teaches regional inhabitants to become forest protectors. Double advantage: better protection of planting sites and neighboring forest reserves AND more people have jobs in forest protection.
The project is set in the Nguru Mountains in Tanzania. This is one of thirteen massifs, together making up the Eastern Arc Mountains. The mountains are covered with forests which are known as the oldest and most diverse forests in Africa. The Nguru mountains are a genuine biodiversity hotspot, harboring countless endemic species of plants and animals which cannot be found anywhere else in the world. Even more so: everyday species are discovered which are new to science (and even to PAMS, our project partner!)
We are developing this project together with PAMS Foundation and the local population. PAMS is an international non-profit organization, which has dedicated itself to nature preservation in Tanzania since 2009. The foundation has a good relationship with the Tanzanian government, crucial to making this project successful. Besides, PAMS has many years’ experience working with communities when it comes to battling the trading of wild animals and poaching.
In the future, Trees for All donors will be able to compensate for their CO2 emission via this project. This requires Plan Vivo certification, which is being dealt with at the moment. Plan Vivo is an international standard for CO2 compensation projects. The standard guarantees among other things that the amount of emitted CO2 is actually absorbed by trees and that the population benefits by the project. Thanks to future CO2 donations, we will be able to realize the project and procure extra income for communities.
An impression of the project area
