Social reforestation

However, for a reforestation project to be successful and ensure long-term commitment from the participating community, it must directly address the causes of deforestation, ensure direct, ongoing community involvement, and provide financial benefits for participants throughout the project.

You can make a lot of speeches, but the real thing is when you dig a hole, plant a tree, give it water, and make it survive. That’s what makes the difference.
- Wangari Maathai (environmental activist, first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize)

Project benefits

With its multi-faceted approach, the project brings countless benefits:

Ecosystems & local environment

Reforestation has significant benefits for the local ecosystem such as improved air and soil quality, watershed protection, and maintenance of biodiversity.

Sustainable land management: In the municipality of San Juan de Limay, Nicaragua, thorough land surveys are carried out to ensure that reforestation projects never take over land that would normally be used for agricultural activities. Also, farmers plant specific types of trees in the project to serve as firewood or timber, which discourages them from further destroying existing forests.

Air quality: Reforestation helps retain humidity and filter particle pollution from the air. The new trees also help absorb carbon and produce oxygen, improving air quality.

Waterways: The municipality of San Juan de Limay suffers from seasonal water shortages and flooding. By increasing forest cover, the project participants help capture water in the dry season and minimize flooding and landslides in the rainy season. The positive effects of this regulated water flow extend to the Real Estuary, one of Central America’s most important estuaries in terms of biodiversity.

Soil quality: By prompting a renewed forest cycle and using nitrogen-fixing trees that specifically fertilize the soil, the project helps nourish and fortify the soil, increasing the health of nearby vegetation, and reducing erosion.

Biodiversity: Project participants collect seeds from a variety of local tree species to help strengthen local biodiversity. Tree species that have been over-logged are purchased and re-introduced. This new growth rebuilds habitat for local wildlife.

Livelihoods & community wellbeing

The project puts significant emphasis on community involvement and decision-making at every step of the process. Amongst other things, participants help select the tree species, gather seeds, build nurseries, plant trees, and protect them as they grow.

The following benefits are put into place to encourage participation and help farmers throughout the project.

Interest-free loans: Taking Root provides interest-free loans to help farmers and their families build fencing, clear shrubs and plant the seedlings. This in turn generates many jobs within the community.

Regular payments: Each participating farmer receives guaranteed ‘payments for ecosystem services,’ which are regular payments over a 10-year period, proportionate to the area of land they reforested and maintain. These payments help increase and diversify their income.

Trees for fuelwood: As part of the project, participants plant fast-growing fuelwood trees that they can use for cooking in their homes. When these trees are cut, they make room for the larger, permanent hardwood trees. The harvested fuelwood trees can also be sold locally as another new source of income.

Fuel-efficient cookstoves: Community members receive fuel-efficient cookstoves that use about one-third of the amount of wood than traditional stoves. This reduces the pressure on nearby forests and minimizes the time spent gathering wood. The stoves also release far less smoke and particle pollution into the air, which is a big health benefit for the women who traditionally spend a great deal of time cooking by the fire.

Climate change

Trees play a vital role in capturing and storing carbon dioxide (CO₂), the most common greenhouse gas emitted by human activity and a key factor in the sudden rise in global temperatures and extreme weather events, called climate change.

The Limay Community Carbon project works to tackle climate change in the following ways.

Preventing emissions: As deforestation is a major cause of global CO₂ emissions, halting deforestation is crucial if we are to limit the disastrous impacts of climate change. By working with communities to provide alternative sources of income and encourage reforestation and forest preservation, Taking Root is preventing further emissions from deforestation.

Effective carbon pumps: Since about half of a tree’s weight is made of carbon, trees serves as pumps, pulling CO₂ out of the air and storing it in their plant tissue. Closer to the equator, these trees can grow up to 10 times faster than in northern climates. By reforesting land in Central America, Taking Root is helping to compensate for global CO₂ emissions by absorbing carbon through the new tree growth.

Offsetting our footprints: Taking Root develops high quality carbon offsets according to the rigorous Plan Vivo Standard. Buying these offsets is a way for businesses and individuals to take responsibility for their unavoidable greenhouse gas emissions while also helping to improve livelihoods in Central America.

Climate change adaptation: According to the UNFCC, “adaptation to the adverse effects of climate change is vital in order to reduce the impacts of climate change that are happening now and increase resilience to future impacts.”^[1] This is especially urgent for countries in the global south that are already feeling the effects.

Through increased project ownership and involvement within communities, Taking Root works to maintain traditional knowledge in the environment and climate change coping strategies.

References

[1] Adaptation. UNFCCC. Retrieved 2011-06-02.