Trees for Life

                                            

October 15, 2008

The Trees for Life representatives arrived with Pere Fritzner in the early afternoon.  There were about 15 people waiting.  The representatives informally spoke to these people as to why we were there and what our plans were to plant and hold a two day seminar/training.

They noticed that a lot of the remaining Mango trees had been cut by cutting main branches off the trees for fuel wood or charcoal.  This inhibits the trees from producing fruit and many of the trees were lacking any large branches.  They saw very few fruit trees (grapefruit, orange, lime,) growing in the community.  The area is threatened by the surrounding mountains as Zorange is a small village in a valley.  All of the mountains surrounding the area are denuded by charcoal production. 

Since a river runs thru the village it was determined that they could plant a species called Sablye which are known for their expansive root systems to keep the river banks from eroding which causes flooding in case of future disasters. It was the overflowing of this river (which has several names) that caused massive flooding to a town called Cabaret which is located on the other side of mountain range.

The representatives met with 38 people who were expecting us and we discussed plan for planting and learned what we could about the unique needs of this community. Everyone was committed to planting more trees and protecting existing trees. This meeting lasted about 3 hours.  Many people have severely damaged homes or lost crops and do not want another disaster to affect them.

The representatives spent some of the day walking in the area to determine where we would plant the 2000 + trees that would be arriving on Friday October 17th.

                                    

October 16, 2008

Trees for Life representatives met with about 40 people at the Rectory in the morning.  They engaged the people to discuss what they see needed to be done to continue to protect their environment.  They discussed several points including:

• The philosophy of "Trees for Life" including victim hood vs. responsibility.  Why Trees for Life is a movement to protect environments by encouraging communities to begin replanting and protecting existing trees.  That waiting for government or outside intervention is not a solution. 
  
  
• How the local authorities whose responsibility is to interrupt or stop continued tree cutting in community area are not effective without the back up of the whole community.  These authorities are paid a very low income to protect the area and are "employees" of the government.  They must count on the back-up of local police for their region but the nearest police station is many miles from Zoranje so the people who cut trees know there is very little consequence if they continue. The people living in Zoranje committed to giving more back-up support when someone is cutting trees in their area. 
                    
• Setting up a local nurseries for future plantings
  
• compost making
• soil conservation in planting food crops
• alternate food crops not grown in area (potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, squash, cabbage)
• demonstration of how to prepare holes for trees
• presentation and discussion of the use of Moringa tree and demonstration of how to dry leaves and include powder in their diets.

                  

October 17, 2008

The morning was spent preparing holes for trees along the river bank.  Trees for Life brought 1000 Sablye trees that are known for their expansive root system and good for erosion protection and holding river banks from overflowing.

The truck arrived with the trees around 1:00 pm and at least 40 people were there to help unload the truck.  Their cooperation was impressive and we unloaded 2,200 trees in about an hour.

They then distributed most of the fruit trees to the community to plant on private land to ensure future protection of young trees.

They also included gimpau, mahogany, cedar, oak and distributed them for planting on the closest mountainside to stop erosion.

The afternoon was spent planting and preparing more holes for trees.