By Markus Faigle | Volunteer Project Director
For more than ten years Zahana has continued its reforestation activities to preserve the environment and actively participate in the prevention of climate change.
When it comes to one of our core activities like reforestation, Zahana never stops looking for all possible means to achieve it. Apart from the usual methods of our Zahana gardeners growing seedlings and giving them away for free to interested villagers and organizing community-wide tree planting events such as international women’s day, we are always on the lookout for new ideas and approaches.
In 2019 we improved and increased our nurseries many times, supervised by the local technical improved cookstove team. In April this year we learned about a new method of planting trees that will be introduced thanks to the establishment of a collaboration with technicians operating in the field of reforestation in Madagascar.
This new method, called Seed-ball, will increase our seedlings planted that we so far achieved by growing it in our nurseries and then digging a hole in ground. The seed-ball consists of wrapping 3 different types of seeds in a ‚soil ball‘. Composed of cow dung, earth powder and clay formed by hand into the shape of or tennis ball, hence the name ‘seed-ball’. To finish the process the seed balls are rolled up in ash before drying them.
The goal is to make reforestation easier, so children and adults alike can participate in this endeavor by taking a few seed balls along and throwing seed balls into the landscape wherever they go.
We hope that by doing so we will increase the number of trees springing from the earth and making the villages again a good place to live.
We learned this innovative technique thanks to the visit of Mahandry a reforestation specialist who joined us on our latest mission (site visit) and taught our team and the surrounding communities on how to make the seed balls literally hands on.
The Seneca Park Zoo Society in Rochester, New York has been supporting our reforestation efforts for a few years. They also have been involved in reforestation in Madagascar on a large scale close to Ranomafana National Park. To strengthen this collaboration and take it to the next level their reforestation specialist visited us to teach us his knowledge in a Madagascar know-how exchange. He lives and works 600 km or almost 400 miles south of us. We are honored he took an almost three-day journey to join us to share his knowledge with us and especially our Zahana gardeners. News of his workshops spread fast and delegates from other villages attended as well.
Seeing the excitement and joy for the children making, but especially throwing these seeds balls anywhere they go was the highlight of the event.
Reforestation + kids = fun
is a winning formula for all communities for a future with more and more trees.
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By Markus Faigle | Volunteer Project Director
By Markus Faigle | Volunteer Project Director
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