Thank you so much for your continued support of our HeroTREEs project! It has enabled so much over the last quarter, including the continued management of tree nurseries and the nurturing of seedlings, and the continuation of training for farmers so that they learn farming practices that nurture the environment and themselves, rather than harm the ecosystem. Tanzania has been going through a long dry spell and rain has been very sparse, as it has been in neighboring East African nations, and meteorologists are warning of drought.
During the past three months, there has been a focus on training and education, delivering training sessions to farmers across villages in the Uluguru Mountains. The current climate has offered good opportunities to educate people about the importance of our water sources and the best way to protect them. A total of 38 farmers from 3 groups were trained on record keeping, detailing what necessary information and activities should be conducted and recorded in their record keeping books. And how to minimize the use of water without compromising the trees.
Our partner organisation Sustainable Agriculture Tanzania (SAT) also organised group sessions, where existing farmers could collaborate and share best practices. This collaboration between farming communities allows for the farmers to learn from others and hear how real-life issues can be solved, leading to a stronger sense of community and improved methods.
Further monitoring visits were carried out over the last quarter assessing 14 farms and ensuring that all the trees were doing well and that farmers were using best water practices during this dry spell.
Further work has also been ongoing in terms of mapping out farms and we have been working in villages such as Ruvuma, Choma, Tulo, and Mgambazi. Farmers were trained on the completion of the drawn maps, so that we can better prepare farm plans and eventually, we will have a complete map of where trees have been planted and how the trees are doing! Now we are eagerly waiting for the short rains that are late, so we can begin planting!
Over the next three months, we will continue inspections and farm surveys, as well as preparing maps of the HeroTREEs planting. We plan to attend drone pilot training and gain certification, so that we can use these aerial tools for mapping. Tree management training will be provided for new farmers on their farms and continued group collaborations will be organised to continue the ability for farmers to share and combine their knowledge.
Your support of our HeroTREEs project is helping people on a local scale, to farm and provide food for their families, but it also helps on a global scale, allowing the preservation of one of the world’s most important ecosystems – the Uluguru Mountains. The farming practices taught to the farmers prevent slash-and-burn methods and allow farmers to harvest food throughout the year. The agroforestry practices taught to these communities not only ensure trees are being planted instead of pulled down, but the practices also improve soil and water quality over time, ensuring that people will be able to farm sustainably for generations to come and with the environment in mind.
Thank you so much.
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Dear Friend,
Thank you so much for your continued support, which has had a great impact over the last three months. This report will update you on the work APOPO in partnership with SAT has been up to, to empower farmers, save the important ecosystems of the Uluguru Mountains and educate people on better farming practices.
Your support has facilitated the training of 60 farmers specifically on transplanting trees, 32 monitoring visits to ensure that farmers are getting all the support they need to farm in a way that benefits both them and the environment.
The next three months’ plans:
We mentioned last time that we would be focussing on mapping the areas and farms that you help support, and we have indeed already prepared 156 maps of the farms! This survey will help us keep data on how many trees have been planted, what trees have not survived and why. We will also hope to get to a point where we can pinpoint on a map exactly where a tree has been planted!
HeroTREEs is a concept that only exists thanks to your support – thank you.
As a result, more than planting trees and protecting the planet (which is pretty important we know!), your support also means that farmers learn how to better manage the land leading to sustainable change. Your support helps improve water quality for neighbouring villages and cities in Tanzania and indeed, it helps protect the species living in this ecologically important part of the world by protecting the habitats in which they thrive.
Thank you.
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During the last quarter, your support has achieved great momentum in the Uluguru Mountain foothills. The short rains failed at the end of 2021 and meant that farmers could not plant trees in the last quarter of the year. However, and on a positive note, we have trained and helped farmers to prepare and plant 650 trees in the past three months - a great beginning to the year.
What's even more exciting is we have added another 60 farmers to the HeroTREEs project, further expanding our reach and efforts. These tree-planting heroes will make such an important difference to the communities living in this region. They have formed three new HeroTREEs groups, and named their groups as follows:
With the formation of these three additional groups, we held field visits and training sessions and also provided each farmer with a unique ID, which is used to identify all of their activities. This aims to improve the project's management structures and record-keeping. All the farmers, a total of 166 now, were given their unique identity cards this quarter and this will make it easier to monitor progress and keep track of planting and activities going forward.
We have also been busy supplying all required materials for project implementation such as water canes, water pipes, sprinklers, scissors, hand hoes, P tubes, manure, seeds, and other general equipment.
In fact, in the last quarter, seeds for eight species were supplied for three groups, including mango, avocado, pine, acrocarpus, cedrela, eucalyptus, syzygium, and jack fruit. We are looking forward to them being nurtured and going into the ground in due course!
During the last three months, as we always do, we continue to carry out training on nursery preparation and management, and we are delighted to let you know that another three nurseries have been established, one in Tulo village, one in Ruvuma village, and one in Choma village. This expansion will mean more trees and will have a significant impact.
With your help, we have also started planning for the next quarter:
What has been achieved and what will continue to be achieved is all thanks to your support. Planting trees not only help people but also the environment. This project is such a success because of your commitment and generosity, so we want to say thank you!
We look forward to updating you next quarter and as always, if you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask: emma.mortiboy@apopo.org I would be happy to chat anytime.
With huge thanks and best wishes,
APOPO and the HeroTREEs team
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Your generosity has achieved great things this last quarter and with COP26 in the forefront of our minds, your amazing support has helped us to increase our work within this very important environmental area, so thank you!
This last quarter, 112 farmers were trained in nursery management, tree planting, and maintenance. We also conducted two monitoring visits to ensure progress was on track, and as you can see from the images, from one of the visits to Bi Salma - this was very much the case!
We also formed a new group of farmers, who want to participate and plant trees for our HeroTREEs project and we have been busy establishing new nurseries for this new group of farmers. This is very exciting, as expanding the number of people educated in this area helps both the people living in the Uluguru Mountain region and helps to save the ecologically important habitat of the Uluguru Mountains.
The last quarter was also a time for planning and inspections. Both internal inspections were conducted by farmers and external inspections were carried out; to ensure that everyone participating in this project is doing so successfully, which happily was the case.
With your support APOPO and our partner, SAT (Sustainable Agriculture Tanzania), are working hard not only to reach the goal of 25,000 trees planted by the end of 2021, but also to expand our operations.
Looking Ahead
APOPO's HeroTREEs project is preparing 10,000 seedlings for the February 2022 planting season, marked by the beginning of the short rains.
We are also looking to invest in software, which will enable us to monitor each tree planted. We hope that this will be useful to you too, as you will be able to literally zoom in and see where your trees have been planted!
I cannot wait to keep you updated on this exciting new area of our work in the future!
In the meantime, thank you so much for your generosity - we couldn't do any of this, without support such as yours - thank you!
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APOPO is delighted to be updating you not just regarding the last quarter, but also regarding our success during the GlobalGiving Climate Action campaign, which ran just after the last update went out. With your incredible support, our HeroTREEs project came in at number seven in the leaderboard and raised just over $5,000! Thank you.
In terms of action, APOPO's HeroTREEs project has enabled the training of the following farmers by village (a total of 92 farmers received training!):
Training farmers is a key aspect of our HeroTREEs mission, as without adequate monitoring and maintenance of planted trees, nursery management or seedling transplantation, the trees planted cannot thrive.
In terms of the trees planted in the last quarter, at least five species of trees were planted, with over 1,000 trees successfully going into the ground and now thriving!
Our plan for the next three months is to:
Your support means more than planting trees and protecting the planet (which is pretty important we know!), your support also means that farmers learn how to better manage the land leading to sustainable change. Your support helps improve water quality for neighbouring villages and cities in Tanzania and indeed, your support protects the endemic species living in this ecologically important part of the world by protecting the habitats in which they thrive.
Thank you.
With best wishes,
Emma
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