“Take Action and Plant A Tree.” That was the theme for an event our team in Uganda hosted on May 7 at Bunyama Katosi in the Mukono district. 150 volunteers answered our call, among them students from Makerere University and Kyambogo University, as well as environmentalists and members of other tree planting initiatives. In two hours, they planted 1,236 trees, including 944 Maesopsis eminii, 200 Grevillea robusta, and 88 Bathedevia.
Our Uganda program covers projects on lasting solutions for large-scale restoration of degraded landscapes and small-scale farmers’ agroforestry in the Western, Eastern and central parts of Uganda. Throughout our event in May, the volunteers planted a total area of 3.8 acres of land out of the 100 acres available at Katosi. They used a spacing of 3.5 meters – this motivates farmers to continue with tree planting on the rest of the land. It also enables them to apply an agroforestry approach and intercrop the trees with crops.
The Future is Bright
We are really excited to see that we can count on young Ugandans as passionate allies in our mission to fight the climate crisis. Saad Ssebuliba, a student from Makerere University, said that he plants trees “because it is a sustainable model to replace degraded forests and combat the negative impacts of deforestation on earth’’. Another student, Muhoozi Yoria, explained, “As an environmentalist and climate activist, I plant trees to increase the carbon sequestration and hence reduce climate change’’. Nyanzi Moses added, “Trees provide us with oxygen and timber, and they absorb carbon. I believe that if more people appreciate the value of trees, then we can plant more.”
James Thembo, our Field Operations Officer in Uganda, addressed the participants at our event directly: “Let’s always support tree-planting activities like today’s to restore degraded forests”. Thanks to motivated young people like these, we believe that we can make a real impact. Watch the video below to see our tree planters in action!