We help plant trees since January 2020. Here is a summary of our achievements over the last year.
Growing the Great Green Wall
The Great Green Wall is an African-led initiative whose ambition is to grow a wide belt of trees, vegetation and fertile land across the Sahel. This ambitious project represents an 8,000km band of trees but is also so much more than that! It is providing food and jobs to the millions of people living in the Sahel, and bringing Africa’s degraded lands back to life.
How is Alland & Robert helping?
The projects we support are part of the Great Green Wall movement. As native species perfectly adapted to the desert, acacia trees are one of the main trees planted as part of the Great Green Wall.
Reducing poverty in Mali
The Koulikoro region of Mali lost 86% of its forests to deforestation in 10 years. Most of the trees were cut down to make rooms for farms. In addition, the climate crisis is making the environment hotter and rainfall more unpredictable. People struggle to grow enough crops to feed their family or sell to make a living.
How is Alland & Robert helping?
Alland & Robert supports a project aiming to train over 400 farmers to grow and protect trees, and restore degraded lands. Women’s group are supported to makefuel-saving stoves that use half the firewood usually used in traditional stoves, which reduces the amount of trees being cut down. 2 tree nurseries have been set up and they have produced over 19,000 trees. Since 2017, Tree Aid have been working on restoring Koulikoro and they have recorded a 34% decrease in poverty in the households they are working with.
Establishing effective community forest governance in Niger
In Park W, Alland & Robert supports a project aiming to help over 250 families to develop businesses based on tree products, including acacia gum. Another objective of the project is to train people to look after forest resources and manage their land sustainably.
How is Alland & Robert helping?
A member of Tree Aid in Niger said about acacias Senegal, one of the acacia variety producing acacia gum: “It is drought resistant and adapts to completely degraded areas, in addition it produces gum arabic for the communities and the seeds are in great demand. It is also a fodder and leguminous species that enriches the soil.”
Supporting ecosystems and communities in Ethiopia
In Ethiopia, over 90,000 hectares of forests are being cut down every year. As a result, huge areas of land are no longer able to support plant life, and farming is becoming impossible. In the Central Rift Valley, eroded soil then flows down the Meki River into the nearby Lake Ziway, causing it to dry up as it fills with silt.
How is Alland & Robert helping?
Alland & Robert supports a project in Dugda-Meki that helps people to restore their local environment, build sustainable businesses and grow nutritious food. In partnership with Tree Aid, we help regenerate degraded land so that it can provide communities with food and incomes, helping them to thrive. Local people are growing trees and learning soil and water conservation methods that will help them restore the land and trees for years to come.