Trillion Trees

Trillion Trees is an unprecedented collaboration between three of the world’s largest conservation organisations – WWF, BirdLife International, and the Wildlife Conservation Society – to help end deforestation and restore tree cover. Our partnership is founded on our commitment to a shared vision, and the belief that working together we can achieve more than we can individually.

Tree cover is an essential part of what makes Earth a healthy and prosperous home for people and wildlife, but the global stock has fallen – and continues to fall – dramatically. In fact, we are still losing 10 billion trees per year.

The consequences? More carbon emitted and less absorbed, dwindling freshwater stores, altered rainfall patterns, fewer nutrients to enrich soils, weakened resilience to extreme events and climate change, shrinking habitat for wildlife and other biodiversity, insufficient wood supply to meet rising demand, harsher local climates, and harder lives for more than one billion forest-dependent peoples across the world.

It doesn’t have to be this way. The two key steps that will reverse these trends – keeping existing trees standing, and restoring trees to the places they once grew – are within our capabilities.

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Enrichment planting in the Kazimzumbwi Forest

This project is a beneficiary of the Gaia/African Biodiversity Network Micro-Projects Fund.

This project is focused on Pugu and Kazimzumbwi Forests near Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Both forest reserves have become severely degraded due to human`s irresponsible interaction with the environment and the consequences of severe poverty. Encroachment by farmers, businessmen and more recently pastoralists have all contributed.

The government has now recognised the shortfalls of its previous resource management approaches and has formulated new enabling policies in favour of community involvement in natural resource management which promote awareness and a shift from regulation to participatory management.

As a result community dialogues and research will be conducted on the valuable indigenous knowledge held by elders. Awareness raising campaigns regarding forest protection and tree planting will take place at schools and in the community and tree seedlings for planting will be distributed between 430 smallholder farmers and 10 primary schools.

Monduli – Maasai Sustainable Community forest resource management

Monduli is a Masai area to the north of Tanzania. The TIST programs empower subsistence farmers in the area to combat the devastating effects of poverty, food shortage, deforestation and disease by planting trees.

In planting these trees the Small Groups of farmers also produce a virtual cash crop of community forest-based carbon credits for which they receive ongoing cash payments. This income serves to augment the community benefits afforded by the program’s planting schemes which are designed to afford maximum benefit to local participants through reafforestation, agro-forestry and community lead forest resource management.

Restore Our Planet have funded two clusters of groups comprising 100 small groups are planting 440,000 trees over 3 years. It is hoped this model will be the launch platform to go into other Masai areas in Tanzania and Kenya opening the political door for significant expansion of this initiative.

Mara Community Ecological Governance

This project is a beneficiary of the Gaia/African Biodiversity Network Micro-Projects Fund.

The project will be implemented in two localities-Kuruya village in Tarime district and Bwasi village in Musoma district, both in Tanzania. Tree planting will be carried out on Isarawa hills which are located between Kuruya and Irienyi village and Bwasi community forest. Problems and challenges include rapid deforestation due to high population, requirements for fuel wood, shifting cultivation of food crops and cotton, charcoal and brick burning and construction material. There are also tensions between major religions, modern education and customary beliefs and practices.

However the communities have started appreciating the role of culture in conservation and ensuring sustainable management of resources and as a result there is the required goodwill and trust.

Activities will include community dialogues with members of Bwasi and Kuruya villages on forest protection and regeneration, training in ecological governance practices and legal systems and the planting of seedlings on degraded land and on community farmland for agroforestry purposes.

Community Resource Management, Ngasini-Mawala

This project is a beneficiary of the Gaia/African Biodiversity Network Micro-Projects Fund.

Ngasini and Mawala forests are near Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. Due to agricultural expansion such as pig-breeding and banana cultivation, illegal collection of firewood and the erosion of traditional beliefs and practices these forests have become severely degraded.

The National Forest Policy while recognising the existence of local forests reserves managed by local authorities also designates village reserves to be managed by the communities. These will be demarcated on the ground, management objectives defined and multi-purpose forest management plans prepared, covering all different uses of forests. This allows villages to control the rate of environmental degradation.

Granted appropriate user rights and security of tenure as incentives for sustainable forest management, local communities are likely to participate actively in the conservation of their forest resources. This project will establish new tree nurseries and organise appropriate community training regarding forests and water.