22. December 2022

5000 Mutuba cuttings for 100 housholds

Our three-year joint Mutuba reforestation project with the Jane Goodall Institute Austria is entering its final year. A good opportunity to look back and see that we are on track with the implementation:

This year 5000 Mutuba cuttings were procured, distributed, and planted, and 100 households were mobilized, sensitized, and trained on silvicultural practices for planting and caring for Mutuba trees.

Since the beginning of the project, 10 villages in selected target reforestation areas were engaged with in Mutuba tree growing. Both the JGI’s species conservation and reforestation projects have always been designed in such a way that the local people concerned have an important voice and supporting role in the project. Showing genuine interest about the details of production and processing and what it would take to preserve the tradition AND improve the lives of people is of utmost importance.

Mutuba trees are generally in multi-purpose use: Besides using its bark to make barkcloth, they are used as share trees, especially in coffee plantations and for poles in local construction work. Among other purposes, the tree provides firewood to low-income communities with little or no access to electricity. By the end of the project in 2023, 15,000 Mutuba cuttings will be distributed to a total of 300 households.