The Terminalia Sericea Project

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Terminalia sericea Burch. ex DC is endemic to Africa and thrives in Tanzania. Used by local communities for wood as well as to extract traditional remedies, it is now threatened by the expansion of mass agriculture and the growing population’s need for coal, which put pressure on its natural biome – the miombo forest. In March 2016, we started an ambitious project to promote sustainability in the Tanzanian savannah, starting from the municipality of Dodoma.

Goals

Conserve the miombo forests;

Improve farmers’ income through agricultural and forestry training;

Generate new income with beekeeping;

Raise awareness on biodiversity conservation at school level.

The Terminalia sericea Project was the first endeavor of its kind in the area.

The activity in schools was strongly appreciated by the local authorities, and is now included in the broader government program called “Dodoma ya kijani” (Green Dodoma). For this initiative we cooperated with local public institutions that donated land to the project, and partnered with the Italian NGO CAST and the Tanzanian NGO Action for Community Care. Our local supplier was key to coordinate all efforts.

Actions

Establish a Tanzanian National Association for the management and conservation of miombo forests in three areas;

Identify forest models as biodiversity hotbeds and centers for good agricultural practices: 3 areas of one hectare each;

Introduce forestry training initiatives on: forest ecology, basic soil science, Good Agricultural and Collection Practices (GACP), natural product management (sawing and drying timber, etc.), business planning and cost/benefit analysis;

Launch beekeeping activities: seed supply and professional training;

Create gardens and plant nurseries in 4 schools, engaging 3,910 pupils.

Main results

Local communities benefited from important innovation and earning opportunities, while protecting the environment;

We spread the concept of biodiversity conservation in local communities through beekeeping and school gardens, widening the range of the project activities;

Through beekeeping, we offered an opportunity to improve family incomes and raised awareness on the shared benefits of maintaining forest cover.

The success of our activities was made possible by the engagement and serious motivation shown by local communities, and by the cooperation with local institutions that donated land to the project.