One of the challenges facing projects that promote onfarmtree planting or forest plantations is how to provideseeds and seedlings at reasonable cost to planting sites.This can be overcome if planting is done on forest blocksites through the forestry department’s central nursery.Earlier attempts to promote community tree plantingbased on central nurseries operated by extension agentsor non-governmental organizations (NGOs) proved bothcostly and ineffective. To reduce costs, there are continuedefforts to decentralise seedling production anddistribution to community levels through groups or centralnurseries organized in schools, camps belonging tocommunity chiefs and privately managed nurseries.In the past, group nurseries often did not survive pastthe group formation or project support stage. Centralnurseries, also, were sometimes abandoned when fundingpriorities changed. Yet, there are success stories andmany farmers continue to be effectively reached throughsuch nurseries. Certain group nurseries, for instance,were left under the management of a single individualyet continue to supply seedlings to the community.Privately owned nurseries, in contrast, have been ableto survive for longer periods, albeit with little supportfrom developmental organizations. Depending on theoperating scenario, all three types (group, central andprivate) are feasible seedling supply alternatives and canevolve along with the awareness and tree planting cultureof the community.
Tag: planting
Back to tree planting for economic and environmental resilience (in Vietnamese language)
Displayed the vulnerable situation in Ho Ho and suggested some Agroforestry solutions in this area
Back to tree planting for economic and environmental resilience
Agroforestry reduces vulnerability of agricultural systems to extreme weather events,and contributes to enhancing livelihoods and environmental resilience in the landscape
Open-pit sunken planting: a tree establishment technique for dry environments
The commonly practiced ground-level planting was compared with a moisture-conserving open-pit sunken planting technique in an attempt to test the success of modified planting techniques that enhance tree survival and early growth in arid environments. An indigenous species, Acacia mellifera (Vahl.) Benth., which is well adapted to the environmental conditions of the trial site, was used for the comparative study. Trial results showed that, after 21 months, height growth of seedlings planted in open pits was almost three times faster than that of seedlings planted at ground level. Total biomass production of open pit planted seedlings exceeded that of those planted at ground level by 78%. Shoot ÷ root ratios of biomass produced were 1 ÷ 1.07 in sunken plantings and 1 ÷ 1.43 in level planting, suggesting that roots of sunken planted seedlings support a higher above-ground biomass production. No mortalities occured in either of the two treatments because of the natural drought tolerance of A. mellifera. The highly significant differences in height growth performance suggested that this planting technique should be tested on other tree species on a larger scale. Accordingly, Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit was used for a second, larger experiment. The results of this trial largely confirmed those of the preceding one. After 31 months, the increase in shoot length of seedlings planted in open pits was 50% higher than that of seedlings planted at ground level. However, total biomass production was only 13% higher for seedlings planted in open pits and no significant differences between the two treatments could be established. Nevertheless, there was a significant difference between the species’ shoot-to-root ratios. This ratio was 1 ÷ 1.04, for the sunken planting treatment, compared to 1 ÷ 1.60 for level planting. Mortality among seedlings in the open pits was half that of the seedlings planted at ground level.
Calliandra calothyrsus: tree management and utilization
Calliandra calothyrsus is a small, thornless, often multistemmed shrub. Under optimum conditions it can attain a height of 12 m and a trunk diameter of 30 cm, but its average height is 5-6 m and diameter 20 cm. Bark colour varies from white to dark red-brown and is normally glabrous but occasionally can be finely pubescent. It has both superficial and deepgrowing roots. Sometimes a taproot is formed.
Cameroon in need of a coordinated agroforestry strategy and program
Nowadays there is worldwide recognition that agroforestry, the deliberate integration of trees in the farming landscape for social, economic and environmental benefits, can contribute in a significant way in meeting virtually all the millennium development goals. Although agroforestry is an age- old practice in Cameroon, farmers and society at large are not reaping its full potential because of a number of constraints, some clearly related to the policy environment, specifically the absence of a comprehensive agroforestry strategy. So far, tree planting activities have been carried by a number of ministries, for example agriculture, forestry and the environment but none has the responsibility to define and coordinate agroforestry activities. The outcome is that there is actually limited Government commitment and resources to develop the agroforestry sector. This policy brief describes the importance of agroforestry to farmers’ livelihoods in Cameroon and climate change mitigation in general and discusses policy related barriers and options to remove the barriers.
Plant fodder shrubs for more milk and cash
Most small-scale farmers keep high- grade dairy cattle. They are mainly fed on napier grass, but it is not a complete feed and it is often not enough. Inadequate amounts of goodfeed leads to low milk yield. Tree fodder from Calliandra, Leucaena and Mulberry can increase milk yield
Better trees on-farm in Africa ii: how can the input supply of tree seed and planting material to the small scale African tree planters be improved?
Trees on farms are part of agriculture. Tree plant- ing by smallholders occurs as a mix of forestry, agriculture and horticulture, i.e. as part of agro- forestry in its broad sense. Although scientific documentation is still lacking, it is generally considered evident that tree planting on farm in Africa has been increasing rapidly for a while and is expected to continue so, for years to come (FAO 2001)
Rooting Forest Landscape Restoration in Consumer Markets—A Review of Existing Marketing-Based Funding Initiatives
Forest landscape restoration (FLR) is globally important to mitigate a wide range of social and environmental problems driven by landscape degradation and deforestation. Despite widespread recognition of the urgent need to restore biodiversity and ecological functioning across many forest landscapes, there is an apparent mismatch between political commitments and direct actions on the ground. Global markets and consumption patterns remain prominent drivers of land degradation. Alternatively, market forces could be transformed to have net positive rather than negative influence on land use change, offering innovative pathways to incentivise and finance FLR. Understanding current market mechanisms that finance FLR is essential for establishing best practices and effective policy. We reviewed 40 eco-marketing initiatives to provide an overview of the types of organizations involved in funding of FLR, and how they finance and enable FLR interventions. We identified three groups of initiatives: for-profit business, certified social enterprise, and non-profit organization. In total, 36 out of the reviewed initiatives collaborated with enabler-organizations to implement FLR activities. All initiatives promoted active tree planting, primarily in regenerative agroforestry systems. Only six analyzed initiatives included natural regeneration as a type of FLR intervention. This suggests that eco-marketing initiatives primarily focus on funding tree planting initiatives, possibly because tree planting is the easiest message to communicate to consumers. Strong safeguards and governance of FLR projects are necessary to ensure that tree planting projects do not overshadow other FLR interventions in areas where other approaches have more significant ecological, environmental, and social benefits.