Reforest Africa’s vision is to see “Native forests recovering across Africa”, with the following mission:
to develop and implement techniques for ecological restoration, conservation and monitoring of African forests for wildlife and people.
The following general objectives support this mission:
(a) To improve the long-term conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem health for the benefit of wildlife, people and global resilience to environmental change;
(b) To develop, improve and implement holistic methods for planning, executing and monitoring biodiversity and ecosystem conservation;
(c) To improve the quality and connectivity of native forest and woodland ecosystems through scientifically-validated and livelihood-sensitive procedures;
(d) To improve societal benefits (especially income) from conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem health;
(e) To improve societal awareness of the benefits of biodiversity conservation and ecosystem health;
(f) To help improve livelihood development alongside protected areas;
(g) To support national and international research into Tanzania’s ecosystems, species, livelihoods and their interactions;
(h) To facilitate international research presence in Tanzania for the benefit of increasing knowledge, training and capacity building in conservation management and the ecological and social sciences.
Our work is both scientific and practical, discovering new approaches for saving and growing forests at the same time as applying them to forest landscapes in need of help. Our work is divided approximately equally between forest restoration, forest management, and working with local people to care for trees and find ways to use them sustainably, to boost their income and livelihoods. We plant trees, but where possible, we prefer to encourage seeds already present in the soil to germinate naturally, through weed clearance, planting shade trees, encouraging seed-dispersing animals, and preventing unnatural fires.
