Copperbelt: Forests on Farms
Engaging smallholder farmers in reversing deforestation
Location
Luanshya, Mpongwe and Ndola districts, Copperbelt province
Project partners
LFCA, DFCA, Rainlands Timber, BeeSweet
Restoration approaches
Assisted Natural Regeneration; conservation
Species
Include Julbernardia paniculata, Pinus oocarpa, Pterocarpus angolensis
Certification
Preferred by Nature (June 2021)
In Zambia’s Copperbelt, WeForest works with hundreds of small-scale farmers, providing them with training and tools to diversify their sources of income while they restore miombo woodlots on their farmlands.
As a result, they receive higher incomes, diversify their economic activities and learn new skills. The project also links them to local companies to ensure their honey gets sold. This way, the project becomes more sustainable, which makes the communities less dependent on WeForest’s contribution.
Why and how we're working here
The typical Miombo forest has, in the Copperbelt province more than anywhere else in Zambia, suffered from mining and charcoal production. WeForest trains farmers in restoring their small farms (1 or 2 ha on average) with indigenous and fruit trees.
The project's impact on
people
Farmers with a minimum of one lima (0.25 hectares) of woodlot are recruited and trained in Assisted Natural Regeneration (ANR), which involves protecting and nurturing wild tree seedlings. This process is carried out all year round and serves to promote the natural succession of the forest.
