Plant 40,000 Trees In Northern Rwanda

Dear Patrons,

We are very happy to thank you very much for all the support that you have provided so far for our Rwanda forestation project and we are so excited to see our trees growing well.

In this detailed report, we wish to share with you the update on the increased cost of fencing materials. On 24^th February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, and the period after this date, the prices started to increase in Rwanda especially Liquefied petroleum Gas and other Fuels

Fencing materials have increased dramatically as most of them are imported from China and other countries.  For example Fence we used to buy on 72 USD, and now there are about 100 USD, the metal tube used in Fence construction 40*40, which we use to buy on 12.5 USD and now they become 14.5 USD. The cement also has increased from 10.5 USD to 12.5 USD.

Fencing our 5 lands is one of the most important parts of the project to make sure that trees planted are fully protected from any disturbance from animals like goats, cows, and sheep, as well as from the disturbances caused by humans.

In addition, watering is needed during the dry season, during the design of the project,

This budget related to watering was not calculated but we found that it is important, due to land properties, the soils getting harder and harder during the dry season, it is very necessary to do regular watering of the trees planted in order to keep them healthy. The project also wishes to hire an experienced Agronomy technician for one year who will bring expertise in maintaining the trees.

To do this successfully, we will need additional funds of 20,000 USD, this will include the extra- cost of the Fencing budget, Salary for the Agronomy technician, watering system, and other regular maintenance of the saplings and the land. This maintenance will require maximum care and supervision to make sure that trees are growing well. This activity will also include pruning the area properly in order to keep the trees healthy and strong, Water is food for our trees and plants – that’s why effective watering is one of the most important ways to care for and maintain, so watering might be needed during the dry season.  Watering this land will be the most difficult thing as these lands are located in the hills. If we can get enough funds, it could be necessary to maintain water during the rainy season in Tanks and then use them during the dry season.  We will make sure that the soil is not compacted because the soil compaction prevents water and oxygen from infiltrating the tree’s roots. We will be doing mulch about 6 inches from the base of the tree so that we cannot damage our tree roots.

As long-term benefits, the project will address Pupil’s livelihood needs for income generation, fuelwood, timber, fruit, fodder, and other non-timber forest products while halting and reversing the trend of forest loss and related environmental degradation in the Rulindo district through promoting vegetable and fruit tree growing and agroforestry systems.  The project will have substantial social benefits. It is expected to make an important positive contribution to community environmental conservation, tree and forest resource management, income generation, food security, and access to other tree resources such as wood and fodder thus reducing the impact of the lack of adequate access to forestry resources on people’s livelihoods. The project will make important contributions to providing incomes to beneficiaries as a poverty alleviation strategy and provide for an important opportunity for the beneficiaries to gainfully participate in the community and Rwanda's national development. Specifically, important benefits are the following: (a) poverty alleviation, hunger, and boosted nutrition; (b) an increase the capacity of the community to address causes of socio-economic problems including natural resource management; (c) strengthening social cohesion and fostering the emergence of community-based activities.

We request you to donate generously to our project so that we can keep working and achieve our goals. You could also consider making a monthly recurring donation for our project, which will help us with our ongoing work.  The link for the monthly recurring donation is mentioned below in the report.

We thank you for everything that you have done for our project, and we look forward to your continued support.

Thanks & Best Regards.

Jean Damascene UWIZEYIMANA

RWAYDAVO President

Links:

• Start a recurring donation for RWAYDAVO