Did you know ? The Comoros suffered from the highest rate of deforestation in the world between 2000 and 2010. This was the initial observation that guided Dahari in the management of natural resources. Today, as part of the program to combat deforestation, the NGO has set up community nurseries in which forest and fruit trees grow.

The community natural resources management program is taking shape on the ground since the beginning of 2014, in partnership with CIRAD and thanks to funding from the European Union. The first nurseries were set up in May 2015 in the three pilot villages: Adda, Outsa and Ouzini. Fruit trees such as avocado, mandarin and breadfruit are grown there. After a few years, these species will provide additional income to landowners. The villagers also decided to plant the mkindri mkindri, the fouantsi, and the mpapa. These are endemic forest trees, which are important to safeguard, for the heritage of the Comoros and for biodiversity. The nurseries are described as community: the trees are multiplied, maintained and monitored by the management committees of each village.

The management committees are made up of village residents, most of whom are farmers. In order to carry out their nursery management role, they have received specific training. The training was given by the team from the Ulanga de Mrémani association. The theoretical part focused on the basic notions for setting up a nursery, namely: the role of trees, the types of pots depending on the plants, the vegetative cycle of the plants, the ideal size of a wildling, the technique of collecting wildlings in the forest, preparing the site for setting up a nursery, the quality of the soil, filling the pots, arranging the pots, maintaining the plants and watering.

The practical part of the training began with collecting wildlings, pulling them out so that the main root was not cut. Then, after lightly pruning the leaves and eliminating certain secondary roots, the participants potted the wildlings. In total, six days of training were organized in the three villages, and 3500 plants were potted on this occasion.

Today, the nurseries have around 4000 plants, the largest of which reach a height of 30 to 50 cm. Community maintenance of nurseries is a success, and we are preparing to carry out a first reforestation in December 2015  in the Hamkabu zone for the village of Adda, Magouni for the village of Ouzini and Ngambo for Outsa.