Community Forests Pemba

On the Road with the Pod-Press

by on August 19, 2011

We’ve been running a lot of posts this summer on CFI’s projects in Canada. Namely, the workshop series. And not for good reason. The workshops are a big part of CFI’s summer programming. But it would be misleading to think that workshops are all that CFI is about.

We’ve got a knack for stretching our resources as far as we can. Whether it’s the construction of our new native species nursery, continual maintenance of our Food Forest, or publishing helpful resources, we’ve had plenty on our plates this summer.

But, but, but. It would also be misleading to give you the impression that all our work happens here in New Brunswick. Much of CFI’s work happens in Pemba, a small island off the coast of mainland Tanzania. Over in Pemba, our sister organization, Community Forests Pemba (CFP), has been busy doing work of their own.

Mbarouk Mussa Omar, CFP’s director, has been on the road, touring, introducing people to, and troubleshooting community-owned Pod Presses. Check out these pictures or flip through the presentation (hat tip to Brennan and Lisa) below to get a sense of what a pod press is all about.

The Pod Press is a great tool because it addresses two issues at once. As the press can be used to produce organic biomass seedling pods and fuel briquettes for cooking, the Press contributes to forest restoration efforts, reduces nursery dependence on polyethylene seedling sacks, and provides communities with an ecological (and cheap) fuel alternative to charcoal.

The following pictures were taken by Mbarouk in Chasasa, a community that had recently met with CFP to learn the ins and outs of the Pod Press.

 

If you’d like to support the propagation and distribution of this innovative tool, please click here. If you’d simply like to know more about the Press and our projects in Pemba, don’t hesitate to stop by or contact us at info@forestsinternational.org. See you at the next workshop!

Here’s to Neil and Robin’s Camp!

by on June 13, 2011

CFI sends a huge shout-out to all the treeplanters of Neil Whan and Robin McCullough’s camps who donated their daily earnings to CFI, collectively contributing over $8200 to CFI’s projects in Pemba, Tanzania. Cheesyness aside, this kind of generosity is truly inspiring.

For those of you have never spent a Canadian summer in the bush planting trees, the trade deserves a bit of an introduction. Tree-planting is an incredibly taxing job, both physically and mentally. After planting anywhere from 2000 to 4000 (highballers in Ontario are known to hit 5k) trees in a day, planters are ferried back to camp where they then devour a meal, hang-out for a couple of hours, then go to sleep. Repeat until the summer is over.

Treeplanters can potentially make good money. But it doesn’t come easy – planters have to work the hardest day of their life, everyday, all summer, to come out of the summer with enough money to pay off a year’s worth of rent and tuition.

That’s why this donation means so much to us. The money’s not coming from the demographic typically associated with philanthropy. But that didn’t stop you from stepping-up. You gave because you believe in what CFI’s doing and you’d like to see your money allow those projects to go forward.

We’ve set out to raise $20, 000 over the summer. The beauty of this campaign is that ALL of the funds go directly and entirely to CFI’s projects in Pemba. Nothing gets tied up in over-head or administration costs. Click here to check out the projects that your donations support and check out the video below that does a great job of bringing the pieces together.

A Beginning in Pemba from Community Forests International on Vimeo.

Treeplanters are an incredibly important piece in all of this.

To help us reach our goal, click here. Thanks for your generosity.

Muir Woods, California

by on February 19, 2010

“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wilderness is a necessity; and that mountain parks and reservations are useful not only as fountains of timber and irrigating rivers, but as fountains of life.”  -  John Muir

Redwoods at Muir Woods

Redwoods in Muir Woods

It’s hard to believe that the quote above was written over a century ago. Muir is the grandfather of modern environmentalism and helped influence the policy that led for the transfer of ecologically sensitive land from state to national control, building the American National Park system. As a well-respected writer, explorer and scientist, Muir gained the ear of his day’s leading intellectuals, including president Theodore Roosevelt, one of the first presidents to put conservation on the national agenda. Muir has been credited with the protection of Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks and co-founded the Sierra Club.

 

 

Redwoods stretch to the high canopy
Redwoods stretch to the high canopy

At the turn of the 1900’s, John Muir befriended Gifford Pinchot, the first head of the United States Forest Service. Initially this friendship offered the key to a future of sustainable and responsible forestland use. But as the years passed, the two intellectuals began to quarrel and used many leading journals and publications as a stage for their fight. Although Pinchot held the natural environment in high revere, he believed that ultimately nature was a resource for human use. Through his post with the United States Forest Service, he made national forest reserves available for private interest and development, a divergence from Muir that led to a duality maintained by many North Americans regarding natural resources and nature conservation today.

 

On Tuesday I walked through Muir Woods, just outside of San Francisco while working with CFI’s tech team on a new organization we’re founding called Envaya. While standing under the planet’s tallest tree species, in one of few pockets of these old-growth giants left, I understood what John Muir meant about a return to home. The air, the breath, the constant murmurs of, “this is amazing” heard along the trail provided a backdrop of collective wonder – a sharp contrast to Silicon Valley, an hour away, where humans have built the technology capable of moving humanity further away from nature than ever before. Many of the redwoods were charred from fire, a testament to the lack of resin in their stringy bark, which makes the redwood highly resistant to fire. An important lesson given the forest fire endemic in California, where much of the old growth redwood forests have been cut down at least once since 1850. Why do we as humans constantly work to simplify our forests and our natural resources? It’s time we reexamine the divide between conservation and consumption.

 

Charred Bases of the Redwood Demonstrates Fire Resistent Nature
Charred Bases of the Redwood Demonstrates Fire Resistent Nature

Since starting the Pemba Trees project in 2006, Community Forests International has grown into an organization committed to connecting communities to the forestlands that sustain all human life. Nestled between parklands and a clear-cut, Community Forests International believes in the alternative. As modern humans, we have evolved with nature since first appearing on the planet 200,000 years ago, but have recently made the environment hostile towards our species due to the mistreatment of the forests that feed us, the water that we drink, and the air that we breath.

This summer Community Forests International hopes to offer a course in New Brunswick, Canada based around the principals of conservation forestry, also known as ecoforestry, restoration forestry or analog forestry. Although the name may change, the idea is the same – we must work to make conservation a product of our consumption. Harvest a tree to help a forest, mill a log to leave a legacy and manage our forests to conserve the world’s working lands. While walking through a small patch of redwood forests it’s easy to dream of a future where change is positive, and where people everywhere can share the experience of coming home. If your interested in conservation forestry check out Ecoforestry, Wild Foresting or Restoring the Acadian Forest, or contact us to find out more about our summer programming.

 

 

 

CFI's Wizard Tech Team and Executive Director

CFI's Wizard Tech Team and Executive Director

CFI Member attends Copenhagen Climate Change Conference!

by on December 7, 2009

Mbarouk and treeCommunity Forests International is pleased to inform our supporters that Mbarouk Mussa Omar, the Executive Director of our partner organization, Community Forests Pemba, will be attending the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark this December.

Mbarouk Mussa Omar has been invited by the United Nations to represent people and communities affected by climate change at the grassroots level and his contributions will inform decision makers and world leaders as they move towards a binding agreement on climate change. The Community Forests International network is proud to work with leaders like Mbarouk Mussa Omar and draws on his strength for the future of the world’s forests. 

Mbarouk Mussa has over 10 years experience in environmental development and is known on the island of Pemba for his ongoing commitment to the betterment of rural communities and their improved livelihoods. Mbarouk’s skills as a community leader, project manager and financial officer work to sustain Pemba’s forests and the people that depend on the environment for their sustenance.

Pemba Sustainability Institute

by on November 24, 2009

In their largest undertaking to date, members of Community Forests International and Community Forests Pemba have decided to build Pemba’s first post-secondary education facility to offer diploma and certificate level programming in Environmental Science, Ecological Forestry, Advanced Agriculture and NGO Management.

This project is in its earliest stages, following a donation of approximately 40 acres to the organization by the village of Gando. The property will house class space and student housing and will prove large enough to offer hands on training through an on-site nursery, farm and model forest.

Click here for more info on the Pemba Sustainability Institute

Site donated to Communty Forests International

Site donated to Communty Forests International

New Nurseries Set Up

by on November 4, 2009

New nurseries were set up this fall in Kwale, Kilindi School, Shumba-Mjini and Furaha bringing the project total to 13 communities. Mbarouk Mussa Omar of Community Forests Pemba is proud that this project has gone to impact so many rural Pembans and hopes that the project will continue to grow with support from Community Forests International and their members.

The community of Shumba-Mjini begins nursery construction

The community of Shumba-Mjini begins nursery construction

Women from Shumba-Mjeni prepare potting material in nursery

Women prepare potting material in nursery

Inside the completed nursery

Inside the completed nursery

The nursery pictured above has become an important community center for the women of Shumba-Mjini. Several community members use this central space to gossip and exchange news away from their homes, while others take advantage of the shade to weave handicrafts or baskets.

Kikunga plants on UN World Biodiversity Day & ENO Tree Day

by on May 22, 2009

IMG_2537Kikunga participates in UN World Biodiversity Day and ENO World Tree Planting Day by mobilizing the community in a tree planting field day. Several members of Community Forests Pemba, including Director Mbarouk Mussa Omar, and Education Coordinator Mike Tritchler were present for the event, in which over 2,000 seedlings were planted in order to provide a cleaner and healthier natural environment for the people of Zanzibar and ultimately the world.

Planting in Mwambe

by on April 23, 2009

MwambeThe shehia (village) of Mwambe began planting as the short monsoon season (masika) commenced in order to give the trees the rainfall necessary to survive. Next season, Community Forests International hopes that Mwambe will be the site of a carbon credit planting project, building on their current planting activities, in which trees are being planted for fruit and timber production.

In a carbon credit project, Mwambe would be planting native trees, shrubs and plants in order to restore the degraded landscape in a process called ecological restoration. Mwambe has access to a massive planting site and community environmental awareness is high, making the site perfect for future ecological development.

Planting in Shidi/Michenzani

by on April 20, 2009

Community Forests International plants trees in Shidi and Michenzani. The video below shows women from Michenzani transporting seedlings to their planting site.

Global Schools Link Launched

by on April 17, 2009

DSC00855

DSC00832

Community Forests International is proud to launch of the Global Schools Link, a web based school twinning project that connects a school in Pemba, Tanzania with schools in Canada. The Global Schools Link allows students from around the world to create online profiles and classroom blogs in order to share environmental information and their tree planting activities, fostering a global network of climate change initiatives.

On April 17th, students in the Environmental Club at Uweleni Secondary School planted 36 trees of various spice, fruit and timber species and then logged onto the Global Schools Link to create student profiles. The students were delighted to upload their profile picture and biography information onto the site in order to participate in the scheduled epenpal correspondence with Canadian students.

The program will see the students sharing information about regional plants and animals, and the impacts of climate change, in order to understand the environmental similarities and differences our world’s geographic regions are experiencing as Greenhouse Gas Emissions alter our global climate. By planting trees in both Canada and Pemba, Tanzania, and by sharing information about their activities, the participating students will take an active role in the fight against global warming.

Next Page »