From forest burning to environmental stewards
In West Pokot, Kenya, a women’s group is planting trees to stop catastrophic natural disasters. Their name is Perur Rays of Hope. For years their landscape has been abused and stripped of trees, leading to landslides, dwindling harvests and drought.
“The biggest challenge here is charcoal burning,” explains Eliza Apolo. “People cut the trees carelessly because they have no money to take their children to school or even to buy food for their homes.”
But things are changing in this community. Perur’s tree-planting project is already underway. And as it grows it will help restore this devastated landscape, boost food security and create jobs for women, all while teaching the local community about the importance of environmental stewardship. “With the inception of this project, we will benefit a lot as a community,” says Eliza.
The first step in the project has been creating tree nurseries, with seeds collected from local trees. “We went to the forest to look for seeds, put them in potting bags, watered them and continue taking care of them,” Geoffrey Ting’aa explained. “We will keep taking care of the trees until they reach the required height for us to go and plant them in the forest.”
Women from surrounding communities are being trained to grow and graft trees at these nurseries. They’re gaining the skills and knowledge to become environmental stewards, all while earning an income to sustain themselves and their families.
“We are so grateful for the training we got here. The training has really empowered us,” Jenipher Yaraa told us. “We have really learned a lot about tree planting and we've really benefitted, because if we implement it in our home, we will have fresh air and our country will not be affected by climate change and we will be able to plough our farms because the terrain will be good. It will also enable us to get our own money, so we are so happy for having been trained.”
Not all the trees will be planted in the forest. “We can also distribute them to farmers to go and plant in their homes.” says Geoffrey.
Planting trees among crops is called agroforestry. It’s a sustainable farming practice where trees and plants support each other, mimicking natural ecosystems. In this project we’re planting trees like grevillea robusta and dombeya torrid, which enrich the soil and shield crops from the scorching sun, boosting food security for the wider community.
By supporting community groups like Perur Rays of Hope, you’ll not only be planting trees, you’ll be investing in a vibrant future where communities thrive and forests flourish.
“I really thank God because of this project. We are so empowered, and we are really motivated to work hard and we won't tire from doing this job,” says Mary Cherotich Todo. “Women now work as a team and we always help each other in times of need. We really appreciate this because we've been empowered through this project, and we wish that this project continues so that more women can thrive and shine.”
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This Earth Day, will you donate and join Mary, Geoffrey and Eliza as a tree hero?