Slash and burn cultivation,and destructive harvesting of native medicinal trees are threatening the environment around the rainforest in Sierra Leone. We help farmers develop alternatives by teaching agroforestry and sustainable harvesting;and raising endangered native trees for community planting.
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Subsistence farmers around the rain forest have no alternative but to clear and burn the bush in order to plant crops. The land degrades rapidly and they need to move their farms every 2-3 years causing deforestation and leaving the land infertile and prone to erosion. Climate change worsens the situation as the rains are heavier,come earlier and last longer.Fruits of native trees like Guinea Pepper are valuable but the trees are being cut down in the wild for easy harvesting,and becoming scarce
We have been teaching agroforestry for 5 years and tree alleys in the first women's community farms will be planted with crops in 2024. This enables permanent farms to develop,reducing slash & burn.We will also add fruit trees to the women's farms as a permanent source of income.We are introducing native seed collection and cultivation to our nursery and training villagers in sustainable harvesting techniques.We train and support an advisory network of farming experts to support the villagers.
