Community Forests Pemba

Global Schools Link Launched

by Jeff on April 17, 2009

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.

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Planting in Vitongoji

by Jeff on April 13, 2009

The planting site in Vitongoji holds some of the best soil on Pemba Island, which may account for the rapid growth last year’s trees have undergone since planting last April.

Mike Tritchler, a Peace Corps Volunteer who’s been teaching computer science and mathematics in Pemba since 2006, joined with Community Forests International and MICA in Vitongoji to assist with the community’s tree planting efforts. Mike will begin working with Community Forests International this fall as a Global Schools Link Coordinator. Mike will assist Community Forests International in pairing Tanzanian environmental education curriculums to curriculums in Canada, in order to increase the Global Schools Link’s effectiveness as a learning tool, and if possible set up a rural computer lab in order to increase project participation.

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Planting at Tundaua

by Jeff on April 11, 2009

Tundaua is a village on the island’s south west corner, apparently holding large deposits of natural gas discovered by the British during their period of colonization.

Men and women from the village worked throughout the day to plant approximately 2,000 trees (Mvinje and Mtundo). Tundaua is one of the first villages to approach Community Forests International, to ask for assistance in planting trees on Pemba, and local enthusiasm was shown by the large number of participants in the tree planting. Given the large demand for trees in this shehia, Community Forests International and MICA have set up two separate nurseries to accommodate the growing demand for tree planting as an income-generating activity.

Tundaua Nursery Visit

by Jeff on April 9, 2009

A member of Community Forests International visits Tundaua with the Misali Island Conservation Association (MICA) in order to see another nursery set up with funds rasied through the Brinkman and Associates Reforestation Ltd. fundraiser held in 2008. This fundrasier saw Canadian planters pledging a portion of their earnings in order to set up nurseries and provide workshops and trainings sessions within the communities in which Community Forests International operates in Pemba, Tanzania.

Pictured at right, Community Forests International co-founder, Jeff Schnurr, explains to MICA Executive Director, Masoudi Juma, how Pemban communities can cultivate symboitic Mycorrhizal (fungal) relationships in order to increase plant growth and seedling durability. Mycorrhiza absorbs carbohydrates created by the tree through photsynthesis and in exchange allows the tree to use the mycelium’s massive network in order to absorb nutrients and minerals from the soil. The mycelium network connects all plants through their root systems in a forest ecosystem, creating pathways that facilitates nutrient exchange between plants.

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Visit to Vitongoji and Pujini to view 2008 growth

by Jeff on April 8, 2009

Pujini experienced exceptional growth in the trees planted near to the community (pictured at right), but some of the trees planted in sites further from the community fell victim to browsing goats and cattle. The community is working to establish a Collaborative Natural Resource Management Plan that will allow for the demarcation of specific areas in which cattle and goats must be tied, while leaving other areas open to free range.

As land use patterns change, it is important for Community Forests International, MICA and the communities they work in, to build a framework in which the trees planted are protected, while leaving some areas open to traditional methods of farming or cattle grazing. MICA works to mediate between different community groups on the local level, and once all sides are heard and the environmental impacts of unrestricted livestock grazing over the community’s land base are realized, the community of Pujini devise a medium in which all sides are satisfied.

Planting at Vyamboni

by Jeff on April 6, 2009

Several community members helped to transport the seedling to the site and facilitate planting. The mvinje (Casuarina equisetifolia) seedlings planted will be harvested for boat masts, poles for construction, tool handles and fuel within 5 years based on this trees remarkable growth rate. Mvinje grows in dry, infertile areas and stabilizes soil through nitrogen fixing bacteria found on its root nodules. After a full days work, about 3000 seedlings were planted on land previously prepared by community members.

In the video below, Mbarouk Mussa Omar, of Community Forests International’s partner organization MICA, instructs Pembans on the proper way to handle and plant seedlings.

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Visit to Vyamboni Nursery

by Jeff on April 5, 2009

Our day commenced by visiting a nursery established in Vyamboni thanks to contributions made by Canadian tree planters in 2008, through Brinkman and Associates Reforestation Ltd. This nursery has experienced the highest survival rate out of any of the island’s nurseries. This nursery is being managed by Vyamboni’s Mazingira (Environment) Cooperation Society, a village based grass-roots organization concerned with conserving their natural resources. The society planted Acacia trees donated by the Department of Commercial Crops Fruits and Forests in 1991, and has lacked the resources to continue their conservation efforts since then. This village nursery will allow those residing in the Vyamboni village to grow the tree species of their choice and to plant without a dependency on donations. According to Abdalla, head of the Mazingira Cooperation Society the nursery houses close to 35,000 seedlings.

After visiting the nursery, Community Forests International visited the planted community forests established in 1991. Many local species have grown up in the Acacia understory, and many of these trees have been identified as seed sources for the community nursery. Community members are not allowed to harvest wood from this forest, and if caught doing so, must pay a penalty fee to the society group. Abdalla stated that the resources of their community must be conserved if they want to allow their children to know and understand the tree species they have come to depend upon.

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Mangrove Planting at Shumba Mjini

by Jeff on April 4, 2009

Community Forests International assisted the village of Shumba in planting mangroves in order to restore portions of degraded mangroves utilized for the production of charcoal. Most Pembans use charcoal for cooking and as a result its production is one of the leading drivers of environmental degradation throughout the region. As the population of this island increases (presently 55% of the population is under the age of 15) the pressure put on both forests and mangroves must be alleviated. White and Black Mangroves can easily be planted by collecting the seeds and sewing directly. Red Mangrove (Mkaka) seeds germinate while still on the tree, and the long torpedo like fruits can be collected and planted.

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