The Woman who never gave up on Gogoni Forest 🌳🌳

“Twice every week I visit our tree nursery bed at Gogoni without fail. I have been doing this for 22 years now. I am a member of the Gogoni Forest Conservation group.

When I joined the group during its inception in 1997 I did not have any experience in tree nursery establishment and care. The support and training that I have gained over time is invaluable. I can now comfortably plant and nurture a tree to maturity.

I have always banked on the success of our forest conservation group and the odd jobs I take up in addition to subsistence farming. I am a widow and unemployed. Putting food on the table and educating my children is tough. At the beginning of the project, just like some of my colleagues, I had thought of quitting the group. There were no substantial tree seedlings sale up until we switched gears to indigenous seedlings. Our fortunes are however, slowly and steadily changing.

Our Biggest breakthrough has been this year — 2019. For the first time, in the history of our forest group, we got to sell more than three thousand tree seedlings at one go. Through our leadership we agreed to save a substantial amount and split the balance amongst ourselves. The savings will help us to expand our tree nursery bed business.

I used part of the money I received to pay school fees for my children. I am happy this is happening now because one of my sons will commence his higher education in the year 2020.

There is no doubt that trees are valuable, they provide us with edible healthy fruits, in addition they clean the air we breathe and also prevent soil erosion. I shall endeavor to plant and grow as many trees as I can as well as spread the message of tree growing to my children and everyone in my community.” Mbuche Martin Nyamawe — Founding member of Gogoni Forest Conservation Group

Mbuche Martin Nyamawe is a founding member of Gogoni Forest Conservation Group. The group works with WWF-Kenya to actualise a Public-Private-People Partnerships Project to save Coastal Kenya Forests.

This project is supported by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMU).

By Alex Kubasu