Trees for All and PAMS Foundation have set up a new reforestation project in Tanzania’s Eastern Arc Mountains. Together with the local communities we are going to reforest 6,200 hectares of hectares, in order to strengthen 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 communities. Our starting point is an holistic 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 increase our impact further and extend the project!
Together with PAMS Foundation we support farmers when planting 120 different species of trees on their land. These trees are native to the Nguru Mountains, such as East-African mahogany and African teak. We also plant rare and near extinct trees, such as Millettia sacleuxii.
By connecting existing forest patches, 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 increase in biodiversity using innovative techniques, such as eDNA and bio-acoustic monitoring,
The forest restoration also provides work and income: people work in the nursery, plant trees and maintain 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 silviculture, in which farmers plant both trees and 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 wide variety of crops. In case one species has a hard time as a result of drought or pest, there will still be a good harvest from the other species. This way we improve people’s food security and income. And best of all: because of this approach, farmers no longer need to destroy 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 yields and food security.
In order to counter deforestation, PAMS teaches community members to become Village Forest Guards. 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: even today species are discovered which are new to science (mostly by staff of our partner PAMS Foundation!)
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 conservation 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 wildlife trafficking and poaching.
This project is officially certified by Plan Vivo, an international standard for CO2 compensation. This means you can offset your personal footprint or your company’s CO2 emissions through this project. We use your contribution to plant trees that sequester these emissions in the coming years. Factors such as tree species, growing location and age of the trees are taken into account.
The impact of your trees is not limited to CO2 sequestration. They also help protect biodiversity in Tanzania and improve the lives of the people here, who benefit from extra work, income, and food thanks to this project. In other words, by supporting this project, you are making a wide-ranging impact. In doing so, we believe in our motto: reduce your emissions first, offset them later.
Would you like to know more about supporting this project? Please contact us.
An impression of the project area
