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About a research grant, dedication to a landscape, and other lessons ...

[Read this article on our new Blog](http://blog.kijani.co/2014/12/05/about-a-research-grant-dedication-to-a-landscape/)

The last two months have been particularly exciting for the Kijani team in Kenya. Supported through a research grant by the Tropical Resources Institute a lot of activities were made possible in Nairobi, in Marmanet, and other places. We have had numerous meetings with non-governmental organizations, governmental institutions, farmers, and entrepreneurs to conduct research about the challenges and opportunities social and environmental initiatives face. Here is a little bit of background ...

Sustainable forest management has been a focus of international development and conservation efforts since the United Nations Rio Earth Summit in 1992. In recent years, international forest policy processes have deliberated about the potential of multi-level governance of forest resources to emphasize the contributions of active local participation in national forest policy making while increasing the legitimacy and traction of global policy frameworks. However, insufficient stakeholder consultations, or ineffective practice thereof, has often impeded inclusive forest governance at all levels and precluded local and regional groups from expressing their claims. Consequently, policies regulating forest use and access are often mismatched with the needs of local people. In 2005, Kenya has adopted a new Forest Act and introduced "participatory forest management" that gives more rights and responsibilities to Kenyan communities.

To identify options for civil society stakeholder engagement in forest policy formulation and implementation the past two months' research aimed to assess people’s awareness of local, national, regional and global forest governance. To inform international forest policy processes at the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) concerning local implementation of participatory forest management and conservation efforts, Kijani serves as a practical example for learning and sharing. Specific questions included: how to facilitate—institutionally, via structure and processes, and financially—the implementation of on-the-ground forest-related activities invoked by the national government and the United Nations; how to frame initiatives in a way conducive to achieving institutional support; and, what needs to be in place for initiatives to be (a) durable, (b) replicable/regenerative, and (c) upscaleable.

The meetings with organizations in Kenya, as well as a number of interviews with international policy makers at UNFF conferences have shown — who would have thought? ;-) — that there are no simple answers to these questions. Indeed, if there were, why would there be the need to investigate them? Sometimes, it is not necessary to find the "right" answers, rather it is important to keep asking the right questions. Never-ending curiosity, the willingness to learn and adapt, and always trying to think one step further are essential ingredients to both motivation and success of mission-driven organizations — especially when no reliable paycheck lies on the table each month.

Again, if it were easy, why would we need to worry about it? Kijani aims for long-term impact. Transformational change can't be achieved by setting things in place at one point in time and letting things role from there. It requires an ongoing dedication to the landscape and its people just as much as a shared vision and humble belief in one's own contribution to something bigger.

Albert Einstein once said that no problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it. We are here to develop a new consciousness about the challenges we are facing, and we strive to bring a young generation of thought leaders and do-ers in Marmanet along with us. We are here to learn, we are here to teach and to share. As Nelson Mandela proclaimed, education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.

We believe in the inherent good of empowering the young generation as a basis for their personal and professional wellbeing, to promote intercultural understanding in a globalized world, and to ensure the best possible future for our forests.

Urs Dieterich

[email protected]

Fostering the green hopes of children

[Read this article on our new Blog](http://blog.kijani.co/2014/11/29/fostering-the-green-hopes-of-children/)

More than a five hours' busride away from Nairobi in the Kenyan highland, at 2300m elevation, no electricity ... these were the conditions, under which 34 enthusiastic children from ages 10 to 14 came together for a "Tree-Planting Academy" on November 21st. In the days leading up to the event, the challenges seemed daunting. When it finally came, though, the harmonious course of the day left lasting impressions on the memories of the attendees and shaped the landscape with 100 newly planted trees.

Kwanjiku is the name of the village close to which we, in Kijani, set ourselves the goal to restore a Kenyan highland forest and empower the local youth. What could be more conducive to this aim than letting the young generation take part in actively experiencing the beauty of nature and to take steps toward reinstating a healthy environment? This is what this day of the "Academy," a concept developed by our global partner and tree-planting champion (nearly 13 trillion! trees) Plant for the Planet enabled everyone to do.

The encounter of students from four schools from grade five to eight and the active planting of trees gave life to the role of the forest in climate change mitigation and adaptation. The PowerPoint presentation, made possible through a generator brought from Nairobi, was held by two Climate Change Ambassadors. The joy the two students embodied was phenomenal and carried the Academy participants from the highland on a wave of enthusiasm for climate change action. As if they had had years of teaching experience, the Ambassadors gave detailed explanations about complex interactions of the global climate system and wakened the fascination of the 34 Academy participants.

Strengthened from a traditional lunch—ugali (mashed corn), sukuma (kale), and matumbo (beef)—the planting action began. The forester of North Marmanet explained and introduced the students to the art of tree planting. The children were thrilled and rushed to plant trees—maybe the first ones of their lives.

Besides children, local government representatives, a headmaster, a teacher from Nairobi, and the founder of a Kenyan environmental group attended the Academy. The collaborative tree planting created a cordial and hopeful ambiance and an abundance of creative ideas about how to continue promoting tree planting in the community. At the end of the day, children happily held their certificates and competed for who could shoot the funniest “Stop Talking, Start Planting” photos.

We thank everyone who has contributed to the success of the event and are looking forward to continue to engage community members, old and young alike, to take active steps for a healthy environment and a young generation of climate leaders.

Urs Dieterich

[email protected]

To Kijani they donated their time

[Read this article on our new Blog](http://blog.kijani.co/2014/10/20/to-kijani-they-donated-their-time/)

Armed with 300 surveys and a few umbrellas, the baseline survey team met in a small, sleepy town center called Kwa Wanjiku (or “Kwanjiku” for short) before venturing into the interior of Marmanet.

In five pairs, each made up of one Kijani volunteer and one member of the local community, we had one aim in mind: to gather information that will inform our tree-planting and community engagement strategy – water availability and sanitation, regional conflict, expertise in sustainable businesses, household demographics and more.

We went from house to house, accompanied by the occasional gang of delighted children, visiting each one of Marmanet’s five villages: Naserian, Majimbogo, Ngoru ,Kaichakun and Lokiriama.

Women stopped their errands in farms, men took time away from herding their cattle and homesteads came to a standstill when we entered through their small wooden gates. We felt welcomed.

Even old mama’s stopped milking their cows, and the occasional “mzee” (old man) would look at us directly in the eyes and stretch out his hand to show us where we could sit under the tree. Almost like clockwork, we were offered tea and a bite to eat in almost every home. If we weren’t working with deadline targets, we may have developed pot bellies!

We did meet some challenges, of course. The odd villager, suspicious of our intentions, would decline an interview. On other occasions our umbrellas offered little safety from the torrential rain and knee-deep mud. Uphill treks through the hilly landscape and language barriers required perseverance. Yet, the team remained passionate and dedicated, gathering all the data that will prove so useful for Kijani.

Overall, we were grateful for this experience. The African culture of hospitality was truly felt. These people, though not having much, donated one of the most valuable human resources to total strangers – their time.

David Oyaga

[email protected]

We just won the MIT Climate CoLab Judges' & Popular Choice Awards. Thanks for casting over 1400 votes.

#Climate CoLab #climatevote #kijani

The journey of 1000 miles starts with one step

When one thinks of the Aberdare forest in central Kenya, images of lush green woodland, big elephants and a series of inter connected rivers come to mind.

Kijani visited the Aberdare National Park for a tree planting event that was organized by the Sirikwa Wildlife Trust.

We interacted with youth from the Sirikwa Wildlife Trust - an organization also founded by college graduates - on the foggy four and a half hour long journey to the park, making a brief stop in Nyeri, famously known as the town where Lord Baden Powell - founder of the Boy scouts movement - spent the last years of his life.

On arrival at the tree-planting site I was heart-broken, to say the least! To think that a forest of such critical ecological importance (the Aberdares forest functions as a water catchment area for major rivers in Kenya) was so dilapidated was a heart wrenching truth.

One of the park scientists said that Illegal logging and overgrazing of cattle by the community were the main causes. However, this did not dampen the spirits of the 124 people gathered together. Faces gleaming with laughter gave a sense of satisfaction and realization that with every tree that we planted, not only were we giving back to the earth what was taken from her, but we were reinvigorating our nation’s pride and history.

By the end of the exercise we are proud to report that on this particular day, around 283 trees had been planted, new friendships were forged and everyone made it back safely to the city of Nairobi.

I was reminded that the journey of 1000 miles starts with one step. We can all take that step - but it's more fun when we do it together!

- Haron Mambe

And Now We're Up for Winning ...

Countless hours of proposal writing, delightful and tedious nights spent with Excel spreadsheets, amazing feelings of common purpose and collaborative editing …. where has this brought us?

The Climate CoLab is organized by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, one of the world’s leading universities, and creates yearly competitions to tackle one of the world’s most pressing problems: Climate Change.

With over 17,000 members the Climate CoLab has developed into an internationally recognized hub for innovative solutions and social entrepreneurship.

So what is Kijani doing there?

Impressed by the reputation the Climate CoLab enjoys, and inspired by all the wonderful ideas that have been created and supported by this initiative in the past years, we thought "why not give it a try?" and wrote an application in mid-July this year. So what happens when we think "oh yes, let’s participate in this competition"? Of course we’ll give it our best. We thought, even if we make it just one round further that’s already a great boost of motivation for the team, and if we make it to the Finalist round we could count Kijani among some of the world’s most innovative climate solution start-ups … and why not shoot for the big win directly — with every word we are typing into the proposal online form?

While we may be good at trying to give our best we definitely have some room to improve our time management, so pretty much two days and two nights of constant work preceded the proposal deadline, including work on the train, while participating in a public event, and at university. In the end we were surprisingly happy with what we had accomplished and confidently submitted our proposal to the Climate CoLab. To win over as many “supporters” as possible to support our proposal on the website we reached out to our friends via email, Facebook, and Twitter, asking them to create online accounts and click “support” for our proposal. The number of clicks grew to around 70 and was among the leading proposals within the competition. (However, these “supports” were not votes and decisions are made by independent judges.)

August 6th: The critical email reaches us with the subject: “[Climate Colab] Message from Judging-Results:”

“Congratulations! Your proposal, ‘Synergies of Reforestation & Community Empowerment in Kenya’ in the Land Use: Agriculture, Livestock & Forestry contest, has been selected to advance to the Semi-Finalists round.”

What wonderful news! What an empowering feeling that our vision for Kijani is shared by others, and that our efforts are appreciated in such a way. Okay, the race was not over yet. We had ten days’ time to revise our proposal and address the comments we had received from the judges. With the motivation of our first success guiding our actions we threw ourselves into addressing the judges’ constructive feedback to hone our proposal. Now, how do you include new aspects into a proposal if you already carefully squeezed the text into the maximum amount of allowed characters per section? Right, you have to delete quite a bit of text and describe everything with half the words you used before. Okay, we like to believe that we managed that.

So we re-submitted our revised proposal and left it to the judges one more time to decide our fate. Additionally, another round of email blasts earned us some more “supporters” on the website, now growing to 108 registered accounts and clicks for us.

September 2nd: “Congratulations! Your proposal has been selected as a Finalist. (Important information enclosed)”

That’s the email that brought us where we’re now. Kijani’s proposal is one of the few finalists out of nearly 600 proposals. Wow!

What did the judges comments say?

"Strong proposal from a competent team. Proposal for community-based reforestation in central highlands of Kenya.

Very doable project by experienced group. They have done all the right things to get this in place, and I expect they will be able to carry it out. The impacts on climate are not large, but it’s a good start and can be an example for others.

Very nice information pulled together by folks from Kenya, US, and Germany. The responses to each set of questions is also well said.”

With these encouraging words from a group of professionals working in the field of climate change mitigation and adaptation in the land use sector we are launching our final push … the race for votes is on.

Are you willing to help us win those $10,000?

We are reaching out to everyone to whom we mean something, to whom our proposal appeals, who wants to make Kijani a little part of themselves. Voting is easy and quick and can be done at kijani.co/CCL

Here is a little how-to for creating a quick profile and voting:

Visit kijani.co/CCL in you browser, or click this link.

Click ‘REGISTER’ (unless you already have an account, then skip to step 6).

Either Sign Up with Facebook or Google, or enter a screen name, your name, email, a password and retype the numbers.

Click on ‘CREATE account’.

Go back to kijani.co/CCL in your browser.

Click on ‘VOTE for proposal’

Share this post with your friends via Mail, Facebook or Twitter. We are very grateful for your support.

Be part of turning a little effort of under a minute for you into a huge opportunity for us.

… and what’s next?

Stay tuned, we’re just getting started. Join us on our journey to make every step count — count as a little victory for people and planet.

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. — T.S. Elliot

#climate change #ngo #mit #climate colab

Molo's hopes for the youth

Verdant hills interspersed with maize plantations and scattered homesteads characterized the scene in the Marmanet countryside. On July 20th, 2014, the Kijani team in Kenya visited the area to take footage for an upcoming crowd funding video. We also wanted to talk to members of the community about their perception of the degraded Marmanet forest.

The team on site in Marmanet

After taking countless shots in the hills of the forest, our exhausted team, consisting of 5 Kijani volunteers, 2 KFS (Kenya Forest Service) personnel, Lucas (the KFS forest manager) and our filmmaker took a breather amid the falling sun. As twilight settled, a light-hearted conversation with Molo - a 72-year member of the Turkana ethnic group – ensued while part of the team napped on a carpet of highland grass.

The Turkana are not the original inhabitants of these hills. Their fathers migrated from the Northern desert plains of Kenya to the region during the latter part of the 20th century, during a mass relocation of ethnic groups that would support the incumbent president – Daniel Arap Moi – to the area. Today, these Turkana call Marmanet their home. Molo – in a constant giggle as he told us about how he uses the forest as grazing ground for his 2 cows and 10 goats – is one face in a community that is hopeful about the changes that Kijani can bring. High on their list is the prospect of job opportunities for the youth, a group that is largely unemployed in Marmanet.

Thankfully (and maybe not surprisingly) this is something that Kijani aims to provide. By offering skills training in sustainable businesses – such as beekeeping – to youth in the community, we aim to provide a means for these individuals to not only earn a living, but to take what they have learned back to their own families and also to other parts of the country. We aim to show through this training that healthy trees can be viable economic engines for low-cost sustainable business solutions to rural poverty. Our hope is that not only the family of Molo, but the Turkana people in this community, too, might benefit from this training and further collaboration with Kijani in the future.

For now, our aim is to garner the support of people like Molo on the ground, enabling our project to find the traction it needs to turn dream into reality!

A journey to find sustainable solutions in forest management

The health of forest ecosystems is not independent of the communities that surround these ecosystems. The way humans living in and around forests perceive the importance of trees, both in an environmental and economic sense, is the major causal factor behind deforestation. For just over half a year, Kijani has been building a model for sustainable forestation by realizing that humans are part and parcel of a forest ecosystem. Our model - built on creating sustainable business solutions for forest based communities - is still developing. Yet, this journey has given us the opportunity to meet and collaborate with other organizations engaged in finding lasting solutions to the sustainability crisis.

During a UN Forum on Forests conference in Nairobi in February this year, Kijani team member Urs was able to meet key stakeholders in the arena of forestation in Kenya. Among these connections, one in particular has proved instrumental for Kijani: Dr. Mercy Gichora, the National Forests Coordination Expert for the Ministry of Environment. A meeting with Kijani team members Daniel and Liz ensued in the weeks following the conference. The climax of the meeting was an invitation by the Ministry of Environment for Kijani to be a key player in the implementation of the National Forestry Program. This program will bring together stakeholders from all around Kenya for dialogue about environmental sustainability. The aim of the program is to formulate a consensus on the best ways forward for Kenya to achieve, in a sustainable way, the government's vision of 10% forest cover by the year 2030. This roadmap is stipulated in Kenya's "Vision 2030" long term economic and development plan. The role of Kijani will be to mobilize the youth from universities, youth clubs and organizations for the forum. This has already given Kijani the opportunity to extend its reach in Kenya as we invite other organizations, such as the Mother Earth Network, an environmental trust, to join us in the mobilization process. Separately, Kijani has been able to partner with the Sirikwa Wildlife Trust. This was after taking part in tree planting initiatives in the slums of Nairobi (on Earth Day and on the World Environmental Day) and in the Aberdare mountain forest in central Kenya. Kijani now also has a burgeoning relationship with GIZ, the German Development Agency, in Kenya, who will assist us in our baseline survey of the Marmanet forest area. It is exciting to see this story unfold, and the opportunities it will present for Kijani, Kenya and beyond in the future!

A visit to the North Marmanet Forest

On March 7th Kijani team members Dickens and Daniel were accompanied by a surveyor from the Kenya Forest Services (KFS) for a 3rd visit to the North Marmanet forest. Inside this degraded forest in Laikipia County, central Kenya, Kijani will re-plant 250,000 indigenous trees on 100 hectares. The purpose of this trip was to identify the GIS (or geographic) coordinates for this effort.

This tree nursery is managed by KFS a few kilometers from the North Marmanet forest. KFS grows exotic trees such as eucalyptus, pine and cypress. Kijani will plant indigenous tree species that take longer to reach maturity (20 – 30 years vs. 10 – 15 years), but are best suited to rehabilitate the forest.

The boundary between the forest land and the local community was not difficult to identify. Cultivated earth interspersed by mud houses and little children running up and down the slopes summarized the sight of the nearby village, Kwanjiku. Adjacent, scrub, grassland, introduced trees and small patches of prime indigenous forests completed the horizon far into the distance of the hilly landscape.

A stretch of the eastern boundary of the North Marmanet forest. Pictured on the hill to the left are pine trees planted by KFS.

Although it is called a “forest”, North Marmanet is more of a protected area. The original forest has all but disappeared. Steady deforestation coupled by forest fires and the government relocation of the Kalenjin community to the region in the 1980’s reduced the 4600 hectare forest to less than 10 hectares (KFS, 2013). Today, the landscape is only partially covered by trees, many of these exotic species introduced by KFS in an attempt to rehabilitate the forest. Despite this evident destruction, it is still a relief to see that not all of the magnificent landscape is this region is overwhelmed by agriculture, and that efforts are being made – spearheaded by KFS – to plant trees again.

The primary forest is still intact in small corners of North Marmanet. The survival of the oasis pictured above owes to the steepness of the slope. This makes it difficult to cut down the trees.

North Marmanet is managed by a KFS team of six rangers, armed with AK47 rifles, and a Forest Manager – Lucas. It was Lucas who guided our walk through the forest. He quickly gave us a brief history of the region. He started with an explanation of the ethnic diversity. It is a place where you can find members of the Turkana, Samburu, Kalenjin and Kikuyu tribes. He explained that this ethnic mix is attributable in part to the relocation of loyalists to former President Daniel Arap Moi in the 1980’s. Moi’s master plan was to swing the provincial presidential vote majority in his favor. It worked – in fact; similar antics contributed to his 22-year presidential tenure. He only stepped down as president in 2002.

Lucas pointing out the forest boundaries to Daniel and Jobita – the KFS surveyor. Two KFS rangers accompanied us are shown in the foreground.

Lucas also explained the problems KFS has experienced with elephant poaching. In fact, the rangers carry AK-47’s primarily to combat poachers. Although instances of poaching have been rare in recent years, we walked past several skeletal remains of massacred elephants.

The North Marmanet forest is a breeding ground migratory elephants. The crisscrossing freshwater streams and abundant salt licks make it a suitable location for the elephants to raise their young. Poaching occurs once every few years, as evidenced by these skeletal remains.

Lucas also told us why the community set parts of the secondary forest on fire in 2003. Disgruntled community members – dissatisfied with the efforts of KFS to rehabilitate the forest at the expense of the rights of the community to graze and collect firewood – set ablaze tens of hectares of secondary forest (i.e. trees planted by KFS). Lucas said that since he started his work as Forest Manager 3 years ago, the relationship with the community has improved. This was evident from his positive reputation in the community. He is known and respected, and the community has a greater understanding of the benefits of a healthy environment. He says that community members need to be directly involved or employed in the conservation efforts, if they are to have any sense of ownership for it. Because of these reasons, Kijani will employ 3-4 members of the local community to manage its tree nursery. It will be operational in a few weeks.

A burnt tree stump: a remnant of the forest fire of 2003, where KFS suffered a major setback to its reforestation efforts.

The key to Lucas’ positive repertoire with the community has been working through the local Community Forest Association (CFA). Through focus group meetings, KFS has been able to sensitize the community, explain its government sanctioned mandate – to restore tree cover in Kenya to 10% by 2030 – and find compromises to community interests. The community is now allowed partial access to the forest for firewood, and cattle are allowed to graze in select locations.

Lucas also explained that as a government institution, KFS acknowledges that partnerships are key to achieving its mission. KFS simply does not have the resources to accomplish 10% tree cover in Kenya. This is where organizations such as Kijani can come in and help. The synergy between Kijani and KFS is evident. It lies in the fact that we will help each other to achieve our respective goals. KFS is sanctioned to plant trees. Kijani, on the other hand, wants to plant trees, but in a way that is sustainable. That is, by empowering local communities through sustainable business and integrating the community into the reforestation model. KFS will provide Kijani will the on-the-ground expertise, security and connections to the community to make this vision a reality. Kijani, on the other hand, will help to boost forest cover in Kenya through tree-planting projects – 100 hectares at a time. This will help the government achieve its goal of 10% tree cover in Kenya by 2030.

The goal of this trip, to identify the 100 hectares for Kijani’s first project – and the location for a tree nursery to make this happen - was accomplished. Lucas identified a stretch of land where several small rivers – such as the Melwa and Mukuru wa Gitore – crisscross. This will guarantee a stable water supply.

Daniel by a tributary of the Melwa River

This location is also near to a KFS forest station. This will guarantee oversight for the work at the tree nursery. Jobita - the surveyor from KFS – used her GPS tracking device to identify the coordinates of this land. She will send us an aerial map of these 100 hectares, which will be included in the “Memorandum of Agreement” (MOA) with KFS. This MOA will also formalize the lease agreement – tentatively of 30 years.

A view of North Marmanet from the eastern boundary.

“One step at a time”, I told myself during the 300 km, 800 m descent back to Nairobi – with mesmerizing views of Mount Kenya off to the east. “One step at a time”.

There are these moments

There are these moments, these situations and encounters that change something in you. Most likely the change does not stop there but manifests itself in the lives of other people and your surrounding as well. However, when such a moment occurs you may not know it, you may not notice. Only days, months, or years after is it that you might understand the significance of that particular interaction or experience. It is even more fascinating to then trace back your pathway to the power of a single event, or a series of events that, collectively, assemble to the powerful cognitive narrative in your head that continues to leave its footprints in your actions.

Did I just experience one of these events? I’m excited to find out. The past nine days I spent in Nairobi, Kenya. The purpose of my trip was a conference of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) where I serve as a “Focal Point” for the Major Group Children and Youth, bringing in youth perspectives in the UNFF policy process and raising awareness about forest governance among young people around the world. For the last two days of my stay, I stayed at Daniel’s wonderful house, green garden, and farm. Meeting the driving force that coordinates Kijani in Kenya was a fantastic experience. It allowed me to look under some of the layers from where Kijani derives its collective motivation, inspirational drive, and natural belief for its actions.

I also met a great group of the local team in Nairobi, all with a sense of ownership for Kijani; feeding their values of social responsibility and justice, environmental stewardship and restoration, and overall sustainability into our common vision of a pioneer project of youth empowerment and reforestation. Dickens, the computer science graduate driven by his love for people and his mission to use his skills innovatively to ensure peace and well-being of those less fortunate than us; “the soul, driven by morale, leading by example, and definitely up for surprises.” Haron, the law student with the vision to capacitate young community leaders to make use of the recent Kenyan constitutional provisions instating participatory decision making at the county level; “the thinker with limited freedom, bound by law, drawing on his legal expertise to navigate the system.” Liz, the economics graduate including a powerful combination of history and literature, enabling her to develop concepts for the economic self-sufficiency of Kijani, and taking into account historic contexts to ensure sustainable outcomes; “the creator, limited by nothing but her ability to develop and defend hypotheses to explain successful business models and ‘create the system’.” David, the community development expert with an endless toolset for sincere relationship building, understanding the needs of people in socially severe conditions and strategies to address them; “the empathetic believer, seeing truth in action.”

Sitting around a table in a beautiful garden, eating wonderful Kenyan food and drinking tea, we chatted along the course of the afternoon. The dynamics, harmony, and deep connection in the identity as part of Kijani were a fantastic experience. Humans rely on relationships. It is social interaction and experiences of empathy from which we draw our convictions and our drive for action. If this basis is given, the prospects for productive cooperation and a functional project are bright.

There are many unknowns, besides risk there is also uncertainty. If this wasn't the case, there would probably not be the need for a group like us to come and actively develop a project strategy in the first place. Mastering this risk and uncertainty, successfully bringing relevant actors onto our side, constantly reevaluating our strategy, and using setbacks as an opportunity for growth will be paramount to bringing Kijani to where we envision our group to be.

Was this moment in Nairobi one of these life-changing events with far-reaching and long-lasting consequences? I couldn't be more undecided, no one knows. All that remains to say is that I am tremendously excited to be part of this amazing assembly of thoughts and actions. We'll see where it goes from there ...

Semifinalists for the Echoing Green Climate Fellowship

As an unregistered organization without a website, our project made it to the Semifinalist round of the Echoing Green Climate Fellowship Competition. (See all semifinalists here)

One month down the line, we are feeling a lot more confident as an organization, and have changed our name to "Kijani" (which means "green" in Kiswahili).

Our concept has developed, our website is being built, and we have an operational team structure that splits our global members into five teams: funding, promotion, community, forestation and management.

With the next application due on March 3rd, we are in the process of further consolidating our mission and defining key elements of our organization. This process will involve a trip to Marmanet in Central Kenya - where we will be planting trees - with a surveyor from the Kenya Forest Services on February 25th. The aim of this trip is to identify the 100 hectares of degraded forest we will rehabilitate, as well as ensuring that there is a stable water supply and the relevant mapping of the site is underway.

We will also hold in-person meetings with Urs Dietrich, our team member from Yale (pursuing a Masters of Environmental Management at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies) who will be visiting Nairobi, Kenya from February 23rd to March 3rd for a conference with the UN Forests Working Group. We hope to gain some clarity concerning our strategies for planting the trees, and engaging the local community as we do this.

We are also registering our organization in Kenya.

For now, we appreciate your support as we work towards getting into the next round of Echoing Green Climate Fellowship competition. Finalists will be flown to New York for in-person interviews.

Watch this space!

Welcome to Our Blog

We are a team of young people from Kenya, Germany, and the US that envision a future of sustainable living and restored climate both locally and globally.

We are developing Kenyan woodlands through reforestation efforts and empowerment of forest based businesses and we are making the fight against climate change more tangible in Germany, Kenya and the US.

We hope you will enjoy reading our blog, stay tuned for more.

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