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|  | | Tree Nurseries for Schools, Uganda | | | | | | Just as children start their education in nursery schools, so too can trees begin to grow from seed and sapling in a nursery environment.
And a valuable and beneficial link between tree nurseries and schools is to be forged in the coming year by Self Help in Uganda, where plans are in place to develop new linkages between tree production and local primary school institutions.
The introduction of measures to address the rapid depletion of Uganda’s woodlands is high on the agenda for Self Help’s country operations, and the project sees the developing of tree nurseries within the school environment as a sustainable and effective way to establish the initiative. |
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‘In a country where only six per cent of the population have electricity there is a constant need for wood and charcoal – so that rural people have the fuel with which to cook their food or boil their water’, says Ugandan country director Nelson Wajja Musukwe. ‘Unfortunately, owing in large part due to a four-fold increase in Uganda’s population over the past quarter century, the pace at which new trees have been planted has not kept up with demand’.
The depletion of forestry and woodland across the country is having a huge impact – both environmentally, and on the lives of rural households which have to search further and wider to meet their need for wood fuel for their domestic needs. Amongst the environmental impacts have been an increase in erosion and in the depletion of soil quality, and a negative effect on the water table in some parts of the country.
Self Help’s Ugandan programme is putting in place measures to introduce a new afforestation and natural resource management component to it’s work, and has been looking to commence this by establishing tree seedling nurseries in a number of schools within it’s project areas.
‘Amongst the key things which nurseries need is a regular supply of water for irrigation, and the people who are in a position to ensure that the tree seedlings are watered and looked after’, says Nelson Wajja Musukwe. ‘Our schools are traditionally sited adjacent to water sources, while the school children will all be encouraged to play their part in tending to the nurseries, and ensuring that the trees are reared in the correct manner’, he added.
Self Help’s Ugandan programme says that school teachers in the designated areas will be trained in nursery management, while they will also be encouraged to educate and train the children in growing methods, and in the huge importance of natural resource management.
‘This will give the future generations a greater understanding of the importance of trees to our environment and our lives, and will also give children the skills and knowledge of how to grow them for themselves’, Self Help’s director said.
Once their new nursery programme is fully operational, Self Help in Uganda hopes to be in a position to distribute tree seedlings to all project benefiaries in it’s Kamuli area within a short time. Ultimately the project would hope that a significant proportion of it’s project beneficiaries would be engaged in establishing domestic woodlots, alongside their other project activities. | | Related Topics | | | | | |
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| | | | | Self Help Africa is a limited liability company. Company number: 105601 Charity No. 6663 (Ireland)
The organisation has offices in Ireland at: Annefield House, Dublin Road, Portlaoise, Co. Laois Tel: 00 353 (0)57 8694034 - Fax: 00 353 (0)57 8694038, and in the United Kingdom at : Second Floor Suite, Westgate House, Dickens Court, Off Hills Lane, Shrewsbury, Shropshire SY1 1QU. Tel : 0044-(0)1743 277170
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