Network updates
We are very pleased to welcome three new partners within the DOB Ecology network. We proudly introduce them below.
New partner
Staff member of the Kinesi nursery planting Albezia seedlings in the pots. August 2019.
WeForest
WeForest develops holistic and multi-stakeholder reforestation projects through a Forest and Landscape Restoration (FLR) approach. While working with local communities to lift them out of poverty, old forests are protected and new forests are planted around them to halt global warming and to conserve biodiversity. WeForest has a scientific approach to FLR and collaborates with universities and research institutes to strengthen its reforestation strategy through applied research.
WeForest’s projects, from Ethiopia to Brazil, cover a range of different restoration methods, including assisted natural regeneration, enrichment planting and agroforestry, which are selected based on the local ecosystem type as well as the main drivers of degradation. DOB Ecology supports WeForest the coming two years with seed funding to boost their project pipeline which will result in two new restoration projects covering 10.000 ha.
New partner
CoCost, University of Groningen
CoCost (Corridors, Coexistence, Synergies, Transitions and Training) is an ecosystem wide research programme in the Greater Serengeti-Mara Ecosystem in both Tanzania and Kenya. This ecosystem is one of the largest and most important migratory ecosystems on the planet for terrestrial mammals and one of the last remaining and relatively intact ecosystems on the African continent.
The programme is run by prof. Han Olff, Professor of Ecology at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, together with 5 mostly local PhD students: Michael Kimaro, Yustina Kiwango, Yuhong Li, Jully Senteu and Fredi Ledidi. CoCost integrates five inter-connected PhD projects and initiates a cross-boundary conservation training component for local conservationists.
The programme aims to create a better understanding of key landscape and ecosystem processes in the Serengeti-Mara and to develop practical solutions for local conservation challenges.
For further reading on the research project follow this link.
New partner
The Netherlands Red Cross Princess Margriet Fund
We will support the Netherlands Red Cross (NLRC) Princess Margriet Fund with their Green Pearl Programme in Haiti. Haiti is globally one of the countries most exposed to natural hazards: hurricanes, tropical storms, floods, landslides and droughts regularly affect the country. This programme is aimed at transforming poor and vulnerable communities in Haiti into green pearls: safe and thriving communities, living in a healthy balance between human needs, natural resources and economic development.
We are excited to work this year with the NLRC in La Vallée de Jacmel, where an exemplary green pearl is being created. During this year the NLRC will work on mitigating land degradation in the Musac catchment area through restoration, strengthening the resilience of the local community against the risks of natural disasters and climate change and developing new sources of income for women, youth and smallholder farmers.
The Green Pearl Programme builds on an earlier project in Côtes-de-Fer that was captured in this video: