RESTORATION OF NATIVE FOREST IN KENYA

The Global Trees Campaign worked in Kenya in association with Plants for Life, who managed the Brackenhurst Botanic Garden in Tigoni. The project aimed to restore and protect native forest in the area.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Since 2001 Plant for Life has replaced 40 acres of exotic forest (eucalyptus, cypress and wattle) with indigenous African forest. Over 250 native tree species have been established in cultivation using wild-collected seed.

Within a district, where the native forest was nearly all destroyed for smallholder agriculture, coffee, tea, non-native tree plantations and by urban expansion, Plants for Life aimed to restore and protect a further 50 acres of forest for biodiversity conservation and carbon sequestration. Environmental education was also carried out, especially for school children in urban areas.

The project demonstrated the cultivation and potential for restoration of almost 1000 indigenous plant species (including orchids, grasses and ferns) in the highlands close to Nairobi. Indicators of project success include bird and animal species returning to the forests. The bird list rose from 35 species to 160 species over 9 years with rare bird species of the Aberdare primary forests re-appearing.

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