TREES MEAN LIFE TREES MEAN LIFE TREES MEAN LIFE

2018 ISSUE 9UPDATEINSIDE THIS ISSUE:

NEW PROJECT TO PLANT ALMOST A MILLION TREES IN GHANA!

GROW HOPE APPEAL UPDATE

HOW YOUR SUPPORT WILL HELP LIFT 2.5 MILLION PEOPLE OUT OF POVERTY BY 2022

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Highlights in this issue

Planting trees to restore a degraded river

Read about our new project in northern Ghana that will plant almost a million trees and reinstate a river as a reliable year-round water source for local residents.

Update on our Grow Hope appeal

A look at the recent Grow Hope appeal and how, women are being empowered to generate their own income from trees, thanks to TREE AID supporters.

What your support will be doing over the next five years

Our ambitious plans to help 2.5 million more people by 2022 and plant the equivalent of one tree every 30 seconds!

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TREE AID, Brunswick Court, Brunswick Square, Bristol, BS2 8PERegistered Charity No. 1135156 Company No. 03779545

Hello from Tamale, Ghana!

Get the latest news and insights about our work on our website www.treeaid.org.uk

Front cover image: A woman planting a moringa sapling, Baribsi, Burkina Faso

I’m Jonathan Naaba and I’m the Ghana Country Manager. I work to ensure all the projects in Ghana run smoothly and that your support helps as many people as possible improve their lives.After a busy 2017 – which was our 30th anniversary year – I wanted to share with you our plans going forward this year, and into the future. On pages 4-5 you can read about an exciting new project here in Ghana to plant 900,000 trees this year. The project will help to restore a degraded river, which is the main source of water for the local community. On pages 6-7 you can find out a bit more about TREE AID’s recently launched strategy for the next 5 years. By 2022 we will have planted another 6 million trees (that’s one every 30 seconds over the 5 years!) None of that would be possible without the amazing support of our donors, so thank you for helping communities across dryland Africa. I hope you enjoy finding out how your support will make a difference in 2018 and beyond!Best wishesJonathan Naaba, Country Manager, Ghana

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TREE AID’s work in Burkina Faso was recently recognised with the award of the ‘Knight of the Order of Merit of Rural Development’ by The Ministry of Environment of Burkina Faso.

Georges Bazongo, TREE AID’s Director of West Africa Operations, collected the award on 11 December. On collection of the award, Georges said

“I am delighted that TREE AID’s work reducing poverty and protecting the environment has been recognised in this way. It’s a testament to the life-changing difference that our supporters help make to the lives of some of the communities across rural Burkina Faso and dryland Africa.”

NEWSNEWSNEWSNEWSDEVELOPMENT AWARD RECEIVED IN BURKINA FASO

NEW VIDEO

TREE AID hosted their 30th Anniversary Dinner in November on-board the SS Great Britain. The night was a great success and guests were treated to music from China Soul, and entertainment

from Professor Alice Roberts and Dr Paul Sinha. The event raised over £14,000 and we would like to thank all the guests who attended for their generous support, as well as all of the corporate supporters who donated prizes for our raffle and auction.

anniversary1987 – 2017

30th

We’ve created a new animated video to tell the TREE AID story in a simple and engaging way. Narrated by our patron Zoë Wanamaker, it features the real story of Jalia from Walembele village, Burkina Faso. Every day was a struggle for survival for Jalia and her children. But with the help of a TREE AID project, Jalia and her community are using trees to grow themselves out of poverty.

You can watch the animation on our website: www.treeaid.org.uk/why-trees

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PROJECT:THE DAKA RIVER TREES RESTORATION PROJECT

Yendi District, in Northern Region, Ghana

December 2017 – November 2018

Helping 1,386 rural households

The number of people living in poverty in Ghana has halved over the last few

decades, however it still remains high in the northern regions of the country. In Yendi District, poverty is widespread and local people are reliant on the land to make a living. The Daka River is the main water source for the region, providing water for use in people’s homes and for farming.

Unfortunately, the river is now drying up for several months of the year. The eroding riverbank, lack of vegetation and an increasingly unpredictable rainy season have all contributed to an increase in the number of weeks the river is dry each year. This has devastating effects for local people and

is making daily life a struggle.

As well as the river drying up, the riverbanks have been gradually damaged over the years by encroaching farmland and forest degradation on the land adjacent to the river. This has led to heavy siltation of the river and low water retention, all contributing to a reduction in water quality and water shortages for families living nearby.

In an area that suffers from high levels of poverty, and where livelihoods are dependent on natural resources, the effects of the degraded and dry river are far-reaching. Thankfully, for residents surrounding Daka River, a new TREE AID project is starting in the area made possible with the internet search engine Ecosia. A large-scale tree planting project will help to stop the degradation of the riverbank and help restore the river as a more reliable source of water all year round.

The project will plant 700,000 native trees and 200,000 stem cuttings over the rainy season on riparian buffer zones along the Daka River. This strategic tree planting will protect the riverbanks from the impact of adjacent farmland and water erosion, while providing the Watering seedlings at one of the project’s nurseries

The Daka suffers from heavy siltation and is farmed right to the edge of the river

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RIPARIAN BUFFER ZONEA riparian buffer is a vegetated area, usually forested, which protects a river from the impact of adjacent land use. It plays a key role in increasing water quality and providing environmental and habitat benefits.

opportunity for residents to earn an income from non-timber forest products.

The trees will be planted by local residents, with guidance from 400 lead farmers trained in Natural Resource Management techniques. These include monitoring the establishment, growth and health of trees planted, assisted natural regeneration practices, bushfire management and tree grafting. Lead farmers will be supported to carry out additional training with neighbouring communities so that the skills they learn are spread locally. Committees will be set up to protect the new habitats created by the project and to manage local wildlife.

By restoring the land around the river and planting almost a million trees, the river will be reinstated as a reliable year-round water source for local residents. For a community reliant on the land and farming, this security will help reduce poverty in the area.

HOW TREE AID WILL HELP COMMUNITIES ALONG THE DAKA RIVER

We will restore and protect 720 hectares of land around the Daka River

400 lead farmers trained in Assisted Natural Regeneration and other techniques

900,000 trees will be planted

We will work with enterprise groups to improve the production of tree products increasing household incomes by 25%

Dawadawa – just one of tree that communities will be planting

Ecosia is the search engine that plants trees with it’s advertising income. As well as helping TREE AID to plant trees in Northern Ghana, Ecosia funds tree planting all over the world. So change your search engine today and help plant trees every time you use the internet! So far, thanks to over 7 million users, Ecosia plants a tree every 1.7 seconds and has planted over 20 million trees worldwide and counting.

You can make Ecosia your search engine today at www.ecosia.org

PLANT TREES by searching the internet

HOW YOUR SUPPORT WILL HELP 2.5 MILLION MORE PEOPLE OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS

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2017 saw TREE AID proudly celebrating our 30th anniversary. It is safe to say that TREE AID has come far in those 30 years; with your support, we have planted over 13 million trees and helped more than one million people lift themselves out of poverty. But TREE AID works with some of the poorest people in the world, and the harsh conditions they face are only getting tougher. TREE AID is at the forefront of the fight against poverty, malnutrition and deforestation on Africa’s drylands, and the need has never been greater.

With this in mind, we are delighted to be able to share with you our plans for the next five years.

The poorest people in the drylands of Africa need trees for income and food. We help people to work together to form tree enterprise groups so that they can share labour, and access bigger markets. We set up saving and loans groups so their businesses can grow. More trees mean a greater availability of wild foods that can be eaten as part of a nutritious diet.

We will help lift

2.5 million PEOPLE OUT OF POVERTY by growing incomes, creating jobs and diversifying diets

Growing incomes

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Unless there is rapid action to halt deforestation, the livelihoods of millions will be at risk from land degradation. As experts in forest management, we support local governments and communities to restore and replant trees – to ensure forests are sustainably managed for the future.

You can read the full strategy or a summary by visiting: www.treeaid.org.uk/what-we-do

To maximise our impact, we want to share our learning, expertise and passion to fight for the rights of communities in the drylands of Africa. We influence

forest policy to ensure the needs of the poor are taken into account during decision-making.

We will plant nearly

6 MILLION TREES (one tree every 30 seconds!)

and regenerate nearly 3 MILLION TREES

We will participate inINTERNATIONALFOREST RESEARCHand work with policy makers to promote poor people's rights

These ambitious plans are only possible thanks to TREE AID’s generous supporters. It’s thanks to you that we have already planted over 13 million trees and helped more than one million people lift themselves out of poverty. Thank you for your support in helping make the aims of our latest strategy possible.

Growing influence

Growing trees

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CASE STUDY: KAZENGO

When the forest was thick with trees, Kazengo and her neighbours could pick fruit and nuts without worry. With forest cover declining, and remaining trees being overexploited, fruit and nuts have become harder to come by. Kazengo and other women in the village who made a living from making shea butter struggled to find enough shea nuts to continue production. Without the income from producing shea butter, Kazengo had to scrape by on less and less and struggled to feed her family.

Kazengo joined a project made possible by TREE AID supporters so that she could help restore her community’s forest. As well as planting new seedlings, she and her neighbours learnt grafting techniques so that they could dramatically speed up the time it takes for a tree to bear fruit or nuts.

Using the skills she learnt, Kazengo has now planted over 200 shea trees, and her community has worked to establish a protected area of forest.

The forest is finally getting thicker again and Kazengo and her neighbours can now find enough nuts on the trees to continue shea butter production. Selling shea butter at the local market helps pay for essentials like food, toiletries and medicine.

Kazengo lives with her children and grandchildren in Baribsi, Burkina Faso. During her lifetime she has seen the forest change dramatically. Where there was once a thick and dense forest close to the village, little by little the forest has disappeared.

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TREE AID’s Grow Hope appeal finished on 31st December 2017. The appeal raised more than £200,000 and we’d like to thank all of our donors who supported the appeal.

The appeal focused on raising money so that women across dryland Africa could be given the opportunity to make an income from the nuts and fruit of trees.

HOW YOUR SUPPORT IS HELPING In rural villages where most women do not earn an income at all, trees offer a sustainable way out of poverty. They are accessible to women and resilient to climate shocks. It was with this in mind that the appeal set out to raise funds to help set up 350 village tree enterprise groups.

Thanks to you, women in dryland Africa are being given the power to generate their own income from trees and lift themselves and their families out of poverty.

Thanks to TREE AID supporters work is underway to fulfil our appeal goal of setting up 350 village tree enterprises to help communities earn an income. In total it will enable 78,000 people to lift themselves and their families out of poverty and will help to grow nearly 1 million trees this year.

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Based in Lewes, Robin Van Creveld, known locally as the Community Chef, encourages people to learn more about cooking healthy and fresh food. He regularly holds workshops, cookery and training courses at Lewes Community Kitchen and back in October he held a Harvest feast in aid of TREE AID.

In keeping with the Community Chef’s work, the event invited people together to make three courses of sumptuous seasonal food. The resulting family-friendly feast was accompanied by music and entertainment in the evening and was a great success raising £300.

Last October’s Royal Parks Half Marathon was a great success for our TREE AID runners. A huge thank you to all of our runners who raised an amazing £6,000 between them.

If you’d like to take part this year and run through London’s iconic Royal Parks on 14th October 2018, registration is now open.

Please contact the Supporters Team on 0117 909 6363 or email info@treeaid.org to register.

ROYAL PARKS HALF MARATHON

– 14th October 2018

FANTASTIC FUNDRAISERS

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We now have places in the Bristol 10K, taking place on Sunday 13th May. Whether it’s your first run or you’re looking to beat your personal best, the course is nice and flat and will have you running past the historic harbour, through Avon Gorge and under the iconic Clifton suspension bridge – a great way to take in the city.

By raising money for TREE AID, your sponsorship will enable families to grow nutritious food to eat and products to sell. You will be helping some of the world’s poorest communities lift themselves out of poverty for good.

Register with us as soon as you can to avoid missing out on a place! You can contact us at info@treeaid.org.uk or on 0117 909 6363. Alternatively, you can download a registration form by visiting: www.treeaid.org.uk/bristol-10k

If you’d like to fundraise for TREE AID please get in touch with our Supporters Team to request a copy of our brilliant new fundraising guide. Call us on 0117 909 6363 or email info@treeaid.org.uk

VIP Summer Afternoon at the Races A quintessentially British pastime. Join TREE AID for great food, all-inclusive drinks and exciting racing. It will be an entertaining and unique day out at one of the country’s best small racecourses.

Wednesday 25th July 2018 Bath Racecourse, Lansdown, Bath, BA1 9BU 12pm – 6pm

Save the Date for TREE AID’s Dinner and DanceAn evening of fine food, entertainment and music. More details to be announced soon, including the reveal of our star host.

Saturday 3rd November 2018 The Bristol Hotel, Bristol, BS1 4QF

For more details about any of the events featured here please contact Mark and Clare at mark.flower@treeaid.org.uk or clare.hanley-theare@treeaid.org.uk or call 0117 9166 446

FANTASTIC FUNDRAISERS BRISTOL 10K UPCOMING EVENTS

The apple tree is perfectly suited to growing at altitude in the highlands of Ethiopia. In the sunny but cool climate of areas like Wof Washa Forest.

Apple trees provide delicious nutritious fruit and offer a valuable source of income, particularly when other crops fail. More and more small-holder farmers in Ethiopia are deciding to plant apple trees thanks to TREE AID projects. Apple trees can be grown on small plots of land, and the fruit is a valuable source of income when sold locally. This is particularly important in Ethiopia where traditional crop returns have been unreliable in recent years.

TREES MEAN LIFE TREES MEAN LIFE TREES MEAN LIFE

THE POWER OF TREES THE APPLE TREE

Gifts that Grow You can buy an Ethiopian apple tree as a present for friends and family that will help a community in the drylands of Africa. When you choose to give a Gift that Grows,

you’re giving vulnerable people the chance to lift themselves out of poverty and grow a brighter future. We can either send your gift card and an information card to you or

directly to the loved one you bought it for – just let us know!

Order your life-changing gift on our website www.treeaid.org.uk/GiftsThatGrow or by calling 0117 909 6363.

(Malus pumila)

Apples are packed with potassium, antioxidants, and vitamins A and C.

They generate a steady income when sold at market, helping families buy food, medicines and school books for their children.

Apple trees are great for beekeepers too as bees love apple blossom.

In Ethiopia, the apple tree provides a source of income when other crops fail.