Six months on, we can now look back at the successes of the Trees for Water for Life project. In one month, 60 people helped raise £1,660. This money was sent, and five BTCV volunteers travelled to Shisong in North West Cameroon in May to join hundreds of villagers in the great community tree planting.

To reciprocate, Cajetan ‘Junior’ Ndzedzeka, Green Care’s volunteer project manager has recently arrived in the UK to work with BTCV’s international department for three months under a Commonwealth Professional Scholarship. As well as gaining new experience to assist his work back home, his local knowledge will help BTCV to develop its African support programmes further. He brought us this report from the project:

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Our conservation programme this year was aimed at planting 5000 trees in 4 communities, Njavnyuy, Kingomen, Ntseni and Royal Palace, and the Kumbo Water Authority catchments area in order to secure the quality and constant flow of water described as ‘the greatest food’ by a traditional leader. Due to their location beside farm and grazing lands, water catchments areas are subjected to pollution and destruction through bush fire burning, firewood quest, cattle pollution and inorganic farming inputs.

Following your generous donation, and the assistance of 5 BTCV volunteers, we made it possible, this year, to give hope to these communities by ensuring that 4,900 trees are planted with and the water catchments areas are protected from water lost and pollution. Subsequent to your donation, we received 400 additional trees (to make it 5,300 trees planted) to support the efforts of BTCV and Green Care from the British High Commissioner’s representative, Mr. Gilles Montagnon, who came to Shisong during the ceremony of restitution of the 2008 ‘Green Heroes’ award we won in absentia.

The active participation of BTCV through its volunteers has been a crowd-pulling factor that has contributed in instilling the spirit of volunteerism amongst our local communities for the betterment of the environment. The ‘Trees for water for life’ project also contributed in the peace-making process between 2 neighbouring communities as both communities have been sharing the same water catchments source.

Our traditional leaders are not left behind in this conservation process and have been giving us their support in this effort, His Royal Highness the Paramount Fon of Nso, the head of our tribe has been promoting our activities and has on several occasions thanked BTCV for choosing his tribe and appreciated the enormous work rendered by its volunteers. He contributed in our tree planting sessions through representatives at Njavnyuy and Yer. The village head of Njavnyuy in his message to BTCV: ‘I will personally do a follow-up of the trees planted as a sign of appreciation to your efforts of traveling such a long distance to come and encourage us to conserve our environment’ showed his devotion to sustain the efforts made by the BTCV volunteers. This immense donation has also contributed in boosting our moral as development agents in our community and that of our leaders like the village head of Ntseni who said: ‘We feel chosen and proud to have BTCV helping us’.

Green Care has been able, this year, to secure a piece of land to develop a permanent community tree nursery which will be able to facilitate our tree planting programme and serve the Kumbo Urban Council with seedlings as a means to encourage people from the municipality in our conservation programme. We have been able to develop, in collaboration with the Kumbo Urban Council, the policy of “one child, one tree” where every birth recorded is subjected to a tree that has to be planted.

Subsequent to the work done so far and supported by your contributions through the Global giving network, many traditional rulers known as landlords have opted to leg the management of the numerous community forests in the region to Green Care in a bid to fight the massive deforestation activity.

The challenge at hand will be to secure 5000 trees for the reforestation of the Bikov community forest, in the Northwest Region of Cameroon and build up a trail network with sign boards and view points for trekkers in the forest. The plants will contribute in the conservation of the ecosystem in the forest meanwhile the trail network will permit the development of environmental and healthy activities such as trekking and ecotourism which will be an income generating activity that will be used as an alternative to hazardous activities such as bush fire burning practiced by hunters and deforestation done by farmers in quest for farming land and firewood.

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The funding support given has been great (and is always welcome!), but much of BTCV and Green Care’s work centres around people. With Cajetan in the UK, we’re now finalising a new volunteer project in Shisong for 2010 under BTCV’s International Conservation Holidays programme – a chance to get directly involved with the work in Shisong, and meet and work with the people who are really benefitting. Watch this space for an update, and please get in touch if you want to know any more.

Andy Jefferies
BTCV International Development Officer

Cajetan Ndzedzeka
Green Care Shisong Project Manager

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