Nursery tools and equipment

Buckets, watering cans, shovels, rakes, hoes, slashers, pangas, wheel barrows, polythene tubes small and large, seeds, manure for fertiliser, generator, pump, piping, diesel for generator, motorbikes for technicians and managers to travel round different nurseries, vehicles for distribution of seedlings.

All our trees are registered with the UN's billion tree campaign

Criteria for projects:

1. The projects must aim for long term benefits to the environment

2. The projects need to show socio-economic benefits to the locals

3. The projects must have all costs covered, and not require the community to spend their own money

4. The projects must be monitored to ensure at least enough trees survive

5. The projects should be sustainable, showing improvement and annual growth

5. They should include education so the trees are managed correctly

Our Nurseries

Muddy river

Nursery location

Area requirement reviews and demographics are the first duty to ensure the nurseries are established in the most desperate locations that will provide the most benefits to the community and local environment. The site then needs to be sourced and prepared, and should be next to a river. The river provides a fundamental source of water which is needed daily. Otherwise boreholes are needed but this is more costly and limits the supply. Tree nurseries must be in an area where trees grow well naturally and thus are generally surrounded by trees, shrubs and bushes. Often trials of tree types are grown in these surrounding protected areas, to see how they benefit other trees, and attract wildlife.

Nursery

Timing

Seedlings must be planted in the ground during the big rain season which generally lasts about two months. The nursery site will then be prepared again which leaves another 9 months for more seeds to be cultivated. Because of the climate the seeds grow much quicker close to the equator and thus four months is the minimum period within the nursery for some tree types. Thus different types of trees are grown at different points during the year, depending upon how long they need to sufficiently mature, before being strong enough to be planted in the ground.

Nursery

Seeds to Seedlings

Firstly the fertiliser, hand made from manure needs to be mixed into a soil wrap with a seed. This soil must be particularly moist and river water is perfect for all watering stages. As a lot of top soil is lost from the edges of the river, the water contains a lot of much needed nutrients. Although initially more expensive than throwing seeds in a mud bath, the seeds are best grown in soil/fertiliser wraps, as the roots are not disturbed or torn when they are strategically re-located in to the ground. They are also less management intensive to grow.

Keeping the nursery moist

Initially they should be covered in dry grass which shelters the direct sunlight but also retains the most hydration in the soil. After a few weeks, the shelter is raised 3 ft to allow breathing whilst shading from sunlight and maintaining moisture levels. The seedlings will be kept in this way until they are planted in the ground during the following rain season, with some being enclosed in similar means from the sides as well.

Happy workers in the nursery

Skills

As the trees are given to local families, they need to be aware of the programme and know how to extract the natural resources produced from the trees. Thus as well as the training of employees, technicians and managers of nurseries, training centres are also established during the distribution process, to educate the locals on the management and how to maximise the benefits of the trees. This can provide families with significant sustainable income.

Retaining water in the nursery (early stages)

Employees

Workers are always sourced from surrounding areas as they need to walk there everyday and have a vested interest in the success of the nursery by the benefits the trees bring to the community. All workers are paid a relatively good salary and therefore rarely leave employment. They must be trained and with experience then continue to train others as more funding is provided for expansion. Managers are paid higher salaries along with technicians who travel around monitoring nurseries ensuring the accuracy and success of progress.

Nursery at 6 months

Administration

The local office has a lot of work to do managing workers, resources and complying with regulations. We work with tree growing organisations who are NGO's and closely monitored and restricted by criteria and regulations, accounting and agreements which must be adhered to. Expenses need covering such as office rent, electric, phone, general office supplies, the tracking of seedling distribution as well as all things mentioned above.

Nursery extending

Reasons

Although many people from developed countries now sponsor trees for environmental / carbon offsetting reasons, the locals in developing countries are only interested in trees for the direct benefits they bring to the local community, from food, medication, shelter, general environmental benefits including reducing erosion and the ability to establish a strong backbone from which to grow other crops etc. Although they want these trees which grow naturally in their environment, they can not without our help.

Trees ready for planting

Ready for planting

These are ready to be strategically planted in the ground. All seedlings must be big and strong enough in time for the rain season. Thereafter, they are stable enough to support themselves and retain enough water adding sustainability to surrounding growth. In individual wraps they are suitable to not be disturbed from their comfortable habitat, and the heavy moisture levels support their rapid adaptation to new soils. With high temperatures and levels of sunlight, they grow up to 3 times quicker than they would in cooler climates and can start producing natural produce in 12 months. Some trees can reach 20ft tall in just two years.