**Registered under the VCS certification standard, the Kuzuko project in South Africa is located in a nature reserve that has protected degraded former pastures to allow the return of the biodiversity that has lived in this landscape for thousands of years. Thanks to the complementary expertise of AfriCarbon and Reforest’Action, the project aims to restore 5,185 hectares of Portulacaria afra-dominated thicket, a tree species known locally as spekboom, to help re-establish the original plant community and habitat of this extraordinary indigenous fauna. In addition to the climatic action linked to carbon sequestration, it will be the source of a vast array of environmental and socio-economic benefits that will be closely monitored throughout the project, within a veritable open-air laboratory dedicated to the restoration of the living.**

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## The origins of a large-scale project

### The beginnings of Reforest’Action’s involvement
Reforest’Action’s commitment in South Africa dates back to 2020. With the aim of contributing to the restoration of the the Albany thicket, a lasting partnership was formed that year with the South African company AfriCarbon, backed by twenty years of research and experimentation applied to these unique ecosystems. The result was the launch of an initial project in the Eastern-Cape province, enabling 200 hectares of thicket to be restored by planting 500,000 spekboom seedlings.
Strengthened by the mutual trust they had built up over the course of this first joint project, Reforest’Action and AfriCarbon decided in the spring of 2022 to take their ambition to the next level. Given the colossal financing requirements needed to make progress towards the goal of restoring all the degraded thickets in the region, the two organisations turned to the voluntary carbon market.
As part of the Kuzuko project, which aims to restore 5,185 hectares of spekboom thicket within a protected nature reserve, a PDD (a document describing the planning of a carbon project and its compliance with certification requirements) had already been drafted in 2014 for submission to the international VCS standard by Anthony Mills, founder of AfriCarbon. But the latent state of the voluntary carbon market over the last decade meant that the Kuzuko project was unable to find funding.

![Anthony-Mills-with-spekboom-ReforestAction-AL-Avril.jpg](/uploads/Anthony_Mills_with_spekboom_Reforest_Action_AL_Avril_e3c49fa49c.jpg)
_Anthony Mills (AfriCarbon) in front of a large spekboom in Kuzuko_

### A synergy between two complementary areas of expertise
As funding partner, Reforest’Action then joined the Kuzuko project’s carbon certification process and contributed its expertise in drawing up and supervising the business plan to guarantee the project’s financial integrity and secure the investment needed to launch restoration operations. 
In support of AfriCarbon, Reforest’Action also helped to finalize the protocols for measuring the carbon sequestration enabled by the project, as well as projecting its environmental and socio-economic impacts beyond climate action alone. At the same time, a rigorous monitoring and reporting process has been put in place to check - and adjust if necessary - these various parameters, ensuring that they comply with the VCS certification standards.
In the field, the scientists of the AfriCarbon team implement the project design as they conceived it, drawing on their expertise in botany and soil science. They coordinate all the technical operations, apply the monitoring process for the growth of the trees and the impacts generated, and ensure the control and quality assurance of the data collected. 
The combination of Reforest’Action’s and AfriCarbon’s complementary areas of expertise makes Kuzuko a particularly robust and ambitious project for restoring ecosystems.

![Robbert-Duker-&-Quentin-Guyon-in-Kirkwood-nursery-ReforestAction-AL-Avril.jpg](/uploads/Robbert_Duker_and_Quentin_Guyon_in_Kirkwood_nursery_Reforest_Action_AL_Avril_64da7ae984.jpg)
_Robbert Duker (AfriCarbon) and Quentin Guyon (Reforest'Action) at one of the project's nurseries_

## A project to restore the spekboom thicket biome 

### A project designed around the VCS and CCB certification
The Kuzuko project is now registered under the VCS (Verified Carbon Standard) certification, one of the most widely used international standards for contributing to global neutrality linked to the voluntary carbon market. This standard, managed by Verra, a not-for-profit organisation, guarantees that the tonnes of CO2 equivalent sequestered thanks to the deployment of the project meet certain quality criteria.
Within Verra’s registry, Kuzuko corresponds to the ARR (Afforestation, Reforestation & Revegetation) typology, attributed to projects that develop forest carbon sinks by restoring vegetation cover. By encouraging carbon sequestration, the project contributes to achieving global carbon neutrality.
The project will be audited every four years for thirty years by the Validation & Verification Body, an organisation approved by Verra which provides validation and verification services in accordance with the rules of the VCS standard. Each verification will generate certified carbon credits, corresponding to the amount of carbon actually sequestered by the trees planted as part of the project. 
The Kuzuko project is also in the process of being certified to the CCB (Climate, Community & Biodiversity) standard managed by Verra. This standard certifies that the project generates positive impacts on the climate and incorporates best practice in terms of community involvement and biodiversity conservation. 
Combining the VCS and CCB certifications guarantees the quality of the carbon credits generated by the project, while providing additional benefits that go beyond carbon mitigation measures.

![Workers-planting-spekboom-ReforestAction-AL-Avril.jpg](/uploads/Workers_planting_spekboom_Reforest_Action_AL_Avril_b16cb2b4f2.jpg)
 
### A project anchored in a biodiversity sanctuary
Located 150 kilometres from Port Elizabeth, in South Africa’s Eastern-Cape province, the Kuzuko reserve was created in 2002 through the protection of degraded land from 18 former goat farms. Thanks to the rewilding work carried out up until the reserve’s inauguration in 2008 to promote nature-based ecotourism, these degraded former pastures have been transformed into a veritable reservoir of animal biodiversity, now home, over an area of 15,000 hectares, to emblematic species of South Africa’s indigenous fauna, including elephants and rhinoceroses, Cape zebras and greater kudu, lions and cheetahs.

![South-Africa-Kuzuko.jpg](/uploads/South_Africa_Kuzuko_35d199db1e.jpg)

![Elephant-2-ReforestAction-AL-Avril.jpg](/uploads/Elephant_2_Reforest_Action_AL_Avril_c53e466ae2.jpg)

In terms of plant biodiversity, however, the removal of the goats and the respect of the ecosystem’s carrying capacity for two decades were not enough to regenerate the native vegetation of the arid Albany thicket, which was originally dominated - up to 80% of their vegetation - by a succulent species, Portulacaria afra. This tree, endemic to southern Africa and known locally as spekboom, is an essential pioneer species for the development and maintenance of a diverse plant community. 
"Our research has established that a third of the area now covered by the Kuzuko reserve was dominated by spekboom thickets two centuries ago, representing more than 5,000 hectares" says Anthony Mills, PhD in soil science and founder of AfriCarbon. " Today, the Kuzuko reserve has allowed the return of the wildlife that this landscape has known for thousands and thousands of years, but the current state of the vegetation is not adapted to its needs. This is the whole point of the restoration project that Reforest’Action and AfriCarbon are carrying out at Kuzuko: to re-establish the original habitat of this extraordinary indigenous wildlife and to contribute, on the scale of 5,185 hectares, to the restoration of the Albany arid thicket biome."
Twenty years of scientific research have proved that spekboom has a central role to play in this restoration, through its ability to act on soil health and the water cycle, and to create the microclimate needed for the resurgence of a rich plant community. This engineer species, with its extraordinary physiological adaptation, is at the heart of the design of the Kuzuko project.

![Cheetah-ReforestAction-AL-Avril.jpg](/uploads/Cheetah_Reforest_Action_AL_Avril_002dc184ad.jpg)

### A project built on science and technology
On the ground, operations are managed by Robbert Duker, PhD in environmental plant physiology and AfriCarbon’s Chief Operations Officer, who is, with his team, based full-time within the Kuzuko reserve. 

![Robbert-Duker-in-Kirkwood-nursery-ReforestAction-AL-Avril.jpg](/uploads/Robbert_Duker_in_Kirkwood_nursery_Reforest_Action_AL_Avril_f21db6701f.jpg)
_Robbert Duker (AfriCarbon) at one of the project's nurseries_

By identifying the areas to be restored within the reserve, which currently consist of moderately or severely degraded thickets, AfriCarbon was able to use rigorous mapping to divide the 5,185 hectares concerned into 1,730 plots, thereby defining a plan to be followed during the planting operations.
 
![Project-Map-Kuzuko.jpg](/uploads/Project_Map_Kuzuko_bd845d4287.jpg)

Three nurseries have been set up to produce the 25,9 million spekboom needed to restore the 5,185 hectares of degraded thicket. The cuttings, harvested from intact remnants of spekboom thickets, are raised in these nurseries, which provide them with the optimum conditions for their growth.
 
![Harvesting-Spekboom-ReforestAction-AL-Avril.jpg](/uploads/Harvesting_Spekboom_Reforest_Action_AL_Avril_ddb27a4ccd.jpg)
Récolte de boutures de spekboom à Kuzuko

Today, the Kuzuko project employs around 300 people, who are housed and fed throughout the working week in purpose-built facilities. Planting began in September 2022 and will be completed by the end of December 2023. Around six months after planting, AfriCarbon carries out an initial monitoring to check that the trees are in good health and, if necessary, to organize maintenance work. This will then be repeated once a year. 

![Planting-Spekbooms-ReforestAction-AL-Avril.jpg](/uploads/Planting_Spekbooms_Reforest_Action_AL_Avril_14c9bfde2c.jpg)

## The monitoring of impact indicators to reflect the added value of the project

### Climate: measuring carbon sequestration
For a carbon project such as Kuzuko, monitoring carbon sequestration throughout the life of the project is a central aspect. A project scenario is defined and compared with a baseline scenario, which determines the amount of carbon that would have been sequestered if the project had not been implemented. The comparison between the baseline scenario and the project scenario is then used to estimate the additional sequestration actually enabled by the project.
The spekboom’s remarkable ability to rapidly fix CO2 - and therefore remove it from the atmosphere - makes this tree an asset for mitigating climate change on a global scale. Restoring spekboom thickets thus increases the carbon storage capacity of above-ground and underground biomass (all organic plant matter), as well as that of the soil.
Based on years of research and experimentation with spekboom thickets, the carbon sequestration target for the Kuzuko project is 1.7 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent over the 30-year credit period. This target includes a 20% buffer, which reduces the final sequestration value of tonnes of CO2 equivalent. This estimated carbon storage will be measured in real terms every four years by field surveys and verified by an audit conducted by the VCS standard.

![William-measuring-carbon-in-soil-ReforestAction-AL-Avril.jpg](/uploads/William_measuring_carbon_in_soil_Reforest_Action_AL_Avril_3614260061.jpg)
_William Gummow (AfriCarbon) taking samples to measure soil organic carbon_

### Soil, biodiversity, communities: 3 pillars of the project 
The construction of a baseline scenario and a project scenario also applies to other impact indicators, which will be scrupulously monitored through a monitoring plan defined by AfriCarbon in conjunction with Reforest’Action. 
"When it comes to measuring the impact of the project, we look beyond carbon sequestration" explains Quentin Guyon, Project Manager in charge of developing the Kuzuko project for Reforest’Action. "We also take into account all the added value of the project, beyond the climate action alone, for soil quality, the development of biodiversity and the living conditions of local communities, by assessing the initial state of each indicator and observing its evolution throughout the life of the project."
In terms of improving soil conditions, various indicators will be monitored throughout the project on permanent plots, such as soil temperature, density, infiltration and water retention rates, and erosion rates.

![Contrast-between-restored-thicket-soil-and-degraded-thicket-soil-ReforestAction-AL-Avril.jpg](/uploads/Contrast_between_restored_thicket_soil_and_degraded_thicket_soil_Reforest_Action_AL_Avril_253e557da6.jpg)
_Contrast between moist soil sampled under a spekboom and arid soil sampled in the open_

With regard to the project's impact on biodiversity, the monitoring plan involves, in particular, monitoring the diversity of flora, the number of bird species, endangered species and pollinators.

![Greater-Kudu-ReforestAction-AL-Avril.jpg](/uploads/Greater_Kudu_Reforest_Action_AL_Avril_e87532782c.jpg)
_Spekboom (in foreground) provides habitats and a resilient food source for native wildlife_ 

The socio-economic dimension is also a fully-fledged component of the project, which contributes directly to reducing local poverty levels. As part of the project, all the staff involved in the activities - harvesting spekboom cuttings, maintaining the nurseries, transporting the seedlings to the plots, planting the trees, activities linked to the infrastructures to accommodate the workers (kitchen, maintenance, shuttle service, etc.) - represent the creation of more than 300 jobs over an 15-month period, which could be extended thanks to the continued restoration of spekboom thickets in other degraded areas of the Eastern-Cape. 

![Monwabisi-worker-on-thicket-restoration-ReforestAction-AL-Avril.jpg](/uploads/Monwabisi_worker_on_thicket_restoration_Reforest_Action_AL_Avril_f60ca4b0e5.jpg)

![Harvesting-spekboom-2-ReforestAction-AL-Avril.jpg](/uploads/Harvesting_spekboom_2_Reforest_Action_AL_Avril_c5da395712.jpg)
_Monwabisi Manene and Zukiswa Davids, two workers employed on the Kuzuko project._

The social benefits also extend to the younger generation, as the project provides funding, through the Kuzuko Foundation Trust, for two primary schools located in Middlewater and Bracefield. The funds will be used to improve infrastructure, provide schoolchildren with quality teaching materials and contribute to their environmental education, teaching them the value of natural ecosystems and biodiversity from an early age.

**The Kuzuko project demonstrates the ability of carbon-certified projects to extend their impact far beyond climate benefits, by promoting soil health, fostering biodiversity and improving living conditions for human communities. This holistic approach contributes to the restoration of valuable ecosystem services and the regeneration of the living in a sustainable way. While the challenge of restoring the thickets ecosystems in South Africa is a major one, with a degraded area of over one million hectares, the impacts of the Kuzuko project have the potential to be multiplied as future actions are carried out by AfriCarbon and Reforest’Action. Strengthened by this initial experience at Kuzuko, the two organisations will be pursuing their joint ambition to restore this unique biome over the coming years.**

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- _The Kuzuko project was notably funded by Capgemini, a global leader in partnering with companies to transform and manage their business by harnessing the power of technology. Capgemini is committed to a 90% decarbonization by 2040 and in addition is investing in high integrity carbon credits to abate and remove carbon from beyond their own value chain._
- _The scientific information and figures concerning the physiological characteristics of spekboom come from interviews conducted by Reforest'Action with Anthony Mills, Doctor of Soil Science and Founder of AfriCarbon, and Robbert Duker, Doctor of Plant Environmental Physiology and Chief Operations Officer of AfriCarbon, or from their published, peer-reviewed scientific work._
- _All the photographs illustrating this article were taken by Reforest'Action._

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Kuzuko: a certified project to restore the living

**South Africa's Albany thickets are unique ecosystems, representing one of the country’s greatest reservoirs of floral diversity and functioning in synergy with the rich fauna that they shelter. The arid subtypes of thicket are often characterized by the dominance of an endemic tree species, _Portulacaria afra_, locally known as spekboom and endowed with extraordinary physiological characteristics, but these ecosystems have been severely degraded by intensive livestock farming over the past century. While the consequences of this degradation are particularly severe for the environment and local communities, scientists are working to implement the world's largest ecosystem restoration experiment. Since 2020, Reforest'Action has been contributing to this effort, which aims to restore 1.2 million hectares of subtropical thickets in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.**

## The Albany thicket, a biome like no other in the world

### A biome in its own, within a country rich in contrasts
South Africa is a land of contrasting landscapes, with a wide variety of biomes - deserts and grasslands, savannahs and forests - juxtaposed across its diverse surface. It was only in 1996 that Albany thickets were classified within a distinct biome. Consisting of a single, dense stratum of low shrubs and trees, festooned with climbers and succulents, they are mainly located in the Eastern-Cape province of South Africa, in the catchments of the Fish, Sundays and Gamtoos rivers, and along the coastline from Port Elizabeth to East London.  
With their origins in the Eocene (56-33.9 million years ago), they are descended from ancient rainforests that adapted to a semi-desert environment as the area was subjected to continental drift and aridification. They are thus home to numerous lineages of prehistoric plants and tropical species whose ranges today extend as far as West Africa, making them one of the country’s largest reservoir of plant diversity. Evergreen and deciduous trees, succulents, creepers, shrubs, vines, bulbs and grasses... More than 1,560 plant species, 20% of which are endemic, have been recorded in the Albany thicket, which also constitute the natural habitat of a rich avian, entomological and reptilian fauna, as well as large indigenous mammals such as the elephant, black rhinoceros, leopard and kudu.  

![Aloe-flower-ReforestAction-AL-Avril.jpg](/uploads/Aloe_flower_Reforest_Action_AL_Avril_1e63578145.jpg)
_The Albany thickets are one of South Africa's 9 biomes_

### Spekboom, the ecosystem engineer of Albany arid thickets
One feature makes exceptional the arid subtypes of Albany thickets: they are the only thicket ecosystems in the world to be dominated - up to 80% of their vegetation - by a succulent species, Portulacaria afra. This tree, endemic to southern Africa, whose Afrikaans name, spekboom, means "fat tree" because of its fleshy, succulent appearance, can grow up to 6 meters high and live for up to 200 years. Its pioneering character, resilience, and ability to ensure the stability of ecosystems and their biodiversity make it a particularly remarkable species, which is why Albany arid thickets are commonly referred to as Spekboom thickets.

![Macro-Spekboom-ReforestAction-AL-Avril.jpg](/uploads/Macro_Spekboom_Reforest_Action_AL_Avril_fe1d81672f.jpg)
_Spekboom dominates 80% of Albany's arid thicket vegetation_

With an uncommon physiological adaptation, spekboom adapts to its rapidly changing environment reflexively by shifting its photosynthetic pathway when water availability decreases, meaning that it can take advantage of wet periods, growing rapidly in C3 mode, and then survive droughts by adopting the CAM metabolic pathway.
Because its stems and leaves are 70-90% water, as well as its hardy physiology, spekboom also improves soil infiltration and water content thanks to its root system, creating a local microclimate that is essential for the germination and establishment of many other plant species in the ecosystem, and for maintaining a high plant biomass.
The extreme biomass generated by spekboom is also an advantage for soil carbon storage. By maintaining the soil cooler, away from direct sunlight, spekboom allows the litter (the surface layer of soil made up of plant debris) to decompose more slowly and prevents the release of CO2 into the atmosphere. As a result, organic carbon is retained longer in the upper layers of the soil. This richness in carbon is beneficial to the ecosystem as a whole, since the richer the soil is in carbon, the better its water retention capacity. So, when the occasional heavy rainfall occurs, the soil beneath the spekboom canopy acts like a sponge, preventing runoff and retaining both water and nutrients, which are then slowly released during periods of drought to support all the flora in the thickets.

![Spekboom-plant-procession-ReforestAction-AL-Avril.jpg](/uploads/Spekboom_plant_procession_Reforest_Action_AL_Avril_616bd7e29c.jpg)
_Spekboom thickets are characterised by the extreme density of their vegetation._

Thanks to their high biomass, thickets dominated by spekboom are also capable of sustaining exceptional densities of megaherbivores, such as elephants and black rhinocerose.
Spekboom is thus a dominant and crucially important species in the arid subtypes of the Albany thicket ecosystem, supporting a whole host of plant and animal species that depend on it to thrive. On the contrary, its removal from the landscape leads to the collapse of the entire ecosystem.   

![Elephant-ReforestAction-AL-Avril.jpg](/uploads/Elephant_Reforest_Action_AL_Avril_7abd704e51.jpg)
_Elephants have a symbiotic relationship with spekboom thickets_

## The livestock industry at the root of the decline in Albany thickets

### 80% of Albany thickets degraded by overbrowsing
At the end of the 19th century, Albany thickets covered 1.5 million hectares of a dense, impenetrable vegetation in South Africa’s Western and Eastern-Cape provinces. Today, only about 300,000 hectares of intact thickets remain, most of them in protected nature reserves.
This means that 1.2 million hectares, or 80% of the ecoregion’s total surface area, have disappeared or been seriously degraded in just over a century. The cause is, to a very large extent, the industrialization of mohair, a woolly fiber derived from the fur of the Angora goat. South Africa now produces 54% of the mohair sold in the world, making it the world’s leading producer, far ahead of Lesotho (12%) and the United States (11%).
Because of the rapid growth of its wool, the Angora goat has high food requirements, which results in the desertification of the thicket on which it grazes. The increase in global demand for mohair has also led farmers to practice intensive livestock farming where the number of herbivores on the plots far exceeds the carrying capacity of the ecosystem, i.e., the maximum number of animals that a given area can tolerate without significant damage to the vegetation and soil.

![Angora-goat-on-degraded-thicket-ReforestAction-AL-Avril.jpg](/uploads/Angora_goat_on_degraded_thicket_Reforest_Action_AL_Avril_71812c1df5.jpg)
_Overgrazing by goats has degraded 80% of Albany's thickets since the 19th century_

### Heavy environmental and social consequences
Today, the ongoing degradation of the Albany thicket continues to lead to the breakdown of ecological function, and the loss of ecosystem services these systems once provided. With the loss of plant cover, the soils are becoming thinner, hotter and drier, and they are losing the network biological processes and the carbon stored in their upper layers. At a local scale, the disappearance of the microclimate created by the spekboom is exacerbating increasingly frequent droughts in the context of climate change. Without its contribution to the infiltration of water into soils and aquifers, springs and rivers will dry up. All these environmental consequences are leading to the erosion of the ecosystem’s extraordinary animal and plant biodiversity.
As a result, the entire ecosystem collapses and is transformed from a lush forest into an eroding and desert-like landscape. Across the Eastern-Cape, the visual contrast is striking as one can find clear boundaries between thickets and desert, separated by fences.

![Contrast-between-degraded-and-quasi-intact-thicket-ReforestAction-AL-Avril.jpg](/uploads/Contrast_between_degraded_and_quasi_intact_thicket_Reforest_Action_AL_Avril_d664583e5c.jpg)
_At the top of the hills, the line of contrast is visible between degraded land and intact thickets._

From a socio-economic point of view, much of the land is now too degraded for farmers to be able to raise livestock profitably and sustainably. The availability of other natural resources from the thickets, such as firewood, edible and medicinal plants, is diminishing for rural communities, which has a direct impact on their incomes and livelihoods.

![Degraded-thicket-in-Kuzuko-ReforestAction-AL-Avril.jpg](/uploads/Degraded_thicket_in_Kuzuko_Reforest_Action_AL_Avril_0679ccc52b.jpg)
_With the disappearance of the thickets, the landscape is transformed into semi-desert_

## Restoring the Albany thicket: science at the heart of the process

### The ambition to restore 1.2 million hectares
Faced with these serious environmental and social consequences, action has been underway for two decades to restore the Albany thicket and rebuild their precious natural capital. Since 2020, Reforest’Action has been contributing directly to these restoration actions thanks to the vision of Dr. Anthony Mills, a scientist specializing in ecology and soil science, who has been conducting research on Albany thickets for the past twenty years. Anthony Mills is also the founder of C4 EcoSolutions and AfriCarbon, a South African company whose mission is to restore all the degraded thickets in the Eastern and Western-Cape provinces - a total of 1.2 million hectares. 
"How do you get to such a scale, in terms of restoration, in the most systematic, efficient and fast way possible?" asks Anthony Mills. "In my opinion, science must be the foundation and the driving force of the process, the fuel needed to bring ecosystem restoration to the scale of hundreds of thousands of hectares. Firstly, to document all the benefits that will be generated by the restoration of the Albany thicket and to encourage investors to support such projects - conservation of biodiversity, return of carbon to ecosystems, improvement in the carrying capacity of landscapes and therefore the productivity of land, increase in the quantity of water flowing into aquifers, etc. Secondly, to understand the best way of implementing this restoration."

![Planting-Spekbooms-ReforestAction-AL-Avril.jpg](/uploads/Planting_Spekbooms_Reforest_Action_AL_Avril_14c9bfde2c.jpg)
_AfriCarbon aims to restore 1.2 million degraded thickets in the Eastern and Western Cape provinces of South Africa_

### A laboratory to advance the science of restoration
Supported by the public and private sector and enhanced by restoration experimentations by farmers on their own plots, the work of Anthony Mills and the community of scientists who have worked on subtropical thickets over the last twenty years has produced a practical and effective restoration mechanism to re-establish thickets where they have disappeared or been severely degraded.
At the heart of this mechanism is the spekboom, the only species capable of initiating the regeneration of the great plant diversity in this area of the Albany thicket biome. Because the soil in degraded thicket areas can reach extreme temperatures - up to 70°C - spekboom is the only species capable of withstanding such heat without irrigation. Once planted, it is capable of lowering soil temperatures to as low as 30°C. In these cooler, moister soils, the plant species typical of subtropical thickets - plants, trees, shrubs, succulents, lianas, etc. - can once again establish themselves thanks to zoochory (dispersal of seeds by animals, particularly birds). Moreover, spekboom’s remarkable ability to rapidly fix CO2 both in the soil and in its above-ground biomass, makes this tree an asset for mitigating climate change on a global scale. But the task is enormous: to restore 1.2 million hectares of degraded thicket, AfriCarbon estimates that 5 billion trees will be needed.

![Kirkwood-Tree-Nursery-ReforestAction-AL-Avril.jpg](/uploads/Kirkwood_Tree_Nursery_Reforest_Action_AL_Avril_6dbe85aee1.jpg)
_Millions of spekboom plants at the AfriCarbon nursery near Kirkwood_

Drawing on twenty years of research and experimentation carried out as part of a continuous improvement approach, Anthony Mills and the entire AfriCarbon scientific team have been able to establish and adjust restoration protocols that today optimize the rapid return of spekboom to the ecosystem, and thus of all its plant community. This open-air laboratory will continue the world’s largest ecosystem restoration experiment for years to come.

**The total disappearance of Albany thickets and their valuable ecosystem services is not inevitable. As well as conserving the intact remnants of the thicket, restoring areas that have been severely degraded is now a priority. Twenty years of scientific research have shown that spekboom has a central role to play in this restoration through its ability to influence soil health and the water cycle, and to create the microclimate necessary for the resurgence of rich plant and animal biodiversity. By making a long-term commitment to AfriCarbon, in particular through the funding of the Kuzuko carbon project, which is VCS-certified by Verra, Reforest’Action is joining forces with the ambition to sustainably restore these ecosystems, which are unique in the world, and the vast array of their environmental and socio-economic benefits.**

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- _The Kuzuko project was notably funded by Capgemini, a global leader in partnering with companies to transform and manage their business by harnessing the power of technology. Capgemini is committed to a 90% decarbonization by 2040 and in addition is investing in high integrity carbon credits to abate and remove carbon from beyond their own value chain._
- _The scientific information and figures concerning the physiological characteristics of spekboom come from interviews conducted by Reforest'Action with Anthony Mills, Doctor of Soil Science and Founder of AfriCarbon, and Robbert Duker, Doctor of Plant Environmental Physiology and Chief Operations Officer of AfriCarbon, or from their published, peer-reviewed scientific work._
- _All the photographs illustrating this article were taken by Reforest'Action._


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In South Africa, the restoration of Albany thickets is based on science

**Between 2017 and 2022, Yagasu and Reforest'Action worked together to restore 415 hectares of mangrove in the north of the Indonesian island of Sumatra by planting more than a million mangrove trees of six different species. In November 2023, an audit carried out by Reforest'Action highlighted the excellent recovery of the mangroves and the wide range of socio-economic benefits generated by the project for local communities.**

![IMG_20231121_141657.jpg](/uploads/IMG_20231121_141657_3b10a7f915.jpg)

## Five years working to restore the mangrove

Initiated in 2017 in the provinces of North Sumatra and Aceh, Indonesia, the project was spread over four planting seasons for a total of five years, during which 260 plots of degraded mangrove were restored over a total area of 415.6 hectares. Consisting mainly of deforested riverbanks, coastal areas and abandoned fishponds, these plots were selected by our local partner Yagasu near 29 villages on the west coast of Sumatra.

![IMG20231120164535.jpg](/uploads/IMG_20231120164535_6bbbbaa638.jpg)

The aim is to regenerate mangrove forests where they have been deforested or severely degraded by the conversion of land to oil palm monoculture, and to help convert former intensive aquaculture ponds into natural mangrove areas or silvofishery ponds with moderated fishing activities. The planting of mangroves enables the original ecosystem to be reconstituted, along with its services such as fixing unstable soils and combating erosion and rising water levels. Because the existence of mangroves improves water quality and helps increase fish production, planting around or inside the ponds serves the dual purpose of maintaining the structural integrity of the ecosystem and providing a sustainable source of food for aquatic life.

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## The conclusions of the audit carried out by Reforest'Action

A total of 1,040,478 mangrove trees were planted in the field after being produced in nurseries designed for the project. The diversity of species, which is essential to the quality and sustainability of mangrove restoration operations, was particularly observed through the selection of 6 different mangrove species adapted to the environment: Rhizophora spp, R. Apiculata, R. Stylosa, R. Mucronata, Avicennia and Ceriops. 
Thanks to the meticulous measurements carried out during the audit mission conducted by Reforest'Action in November 2023, the overall average survival rate of the trees for all the different seasons of the project was determined to be 89.88%. The plots are now in vigorous health and growth, and free of any plant disease.

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## A wide range of socio-economic benefits generated by mangroves

### Raising community awareness of the valuable resources provided by mangroves

Over the five years the project has been running, it has directly benefited 4,552 people and indirectly 9,104 people. The mangrove restoration campaign led by our project implementer Yagasu has not only generated employment in the nurseries and planting operations but has also created income-generating socio-economic activities for local people. These include the creation of traditional batik fabrics using mangrove ink, the production of foodstuffs (crisps, crackers) from mangroves, and the practice of silvofishery, which exploits the natural fish resources (fish, prawns, crabs) of these forests by creating natural ponds within them.

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By becoming aware of the benefits provided by mangroves, local communities are more inclined to adopt a conservation approach to these precious forests, and to contribute to their protection, in particular by setting up community patrols to survey the mangroves and report any deforestation activity.

### Creating local commercial channels

In terms of market opportunities for the production of batik and food products, Yagasu is working with communities to create genuine local commercial channels and raise awareness among consumers from local populations and visiting tourists. As far as silvofishery is concerned, Yagasu facilitates transactions between producers and end consumers through local intermediaries. 

Women's communities in particular benefit from these socio-economic programmes, which contribute to the development of their skills and their financial independence. In fact, the income generated by the socio-economic activities within the women's groups is equivalent to an increase of around 15 to 20% on their pre-project income.

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### Developing ecotourism to boost the local economy

In addition, the project is also enabling the development of ecotourism infrastructures and educational activities, such as nautical tourism, culinary tourism and tourism based on awareness of mangrove ecosystems. In Pasar Rawa, in particular, the ecotourism programme is generating employment for villagers and contributing to the local economy, while promoting a better understanding of the importance of mangrove conservation.

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**The project run by Reforest'Action and Yagasu in Sumatra between 2017 and 2022 has thus contributed not only to the restoration and conservation of mangrove ecosystems located in two provinces of the Indonesian island, but also to the creation of profound socio-economic impacts among local communities by promoting sustainable livelihoods and their economic resilience.**

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Sumatra: economic resilience depends on environmental restoration

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Amikinos est une petite entreprise familiale française ayant pour but de proposer les croquettes les plus saines possibles pour les chiens et chats. Nous partons du principe que pour qu'une croquette soit la plus saine possible, elle doit être naturelle et se rapprocher le plus possible de ce que les chiens et les chats mangent à l’état sauvage. Autrement dit, une croquette riche en viande, sans céréales, et avec le moins de glucides possible.

AMIKINOS

Restaurer les écosystèmes terrestres à grande échelle en recréant les meilleures conditions pour leur permettre d’être stable dans la durée dans un contexte climatique et sociétal en pleine transformation.

En savoir plus sur la mission de Reforest'Action

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Tulipier du Gabon

Mouroungue

Pêcher

Podocarpe à grandes feuilles

Avocatier

Margousier

Pin du Mexique

Chêne soyeux

Fruits: bois d'oeuvre: bois de chauffe: biodiversité: lutte contre l'érosion: maintien de la qualité de l'eau- Activités touristiques (visite: tours: vélo: hotellerie: etc.) - Sensibilisation auprès des écoles: mise en place d'une "green school"

NO_POVERTY

ZERO_HUNGER

QUALITY_EDUCATION

DECENT_WORK_AND_ECONOMIC_GROWTH

CLIMATE_ACTION

LIFE_ON_LAND

PARTNERSHIP_FOR_THE_GOALS

Preservation of local biodiversity by providing suitable habitats and resources.

Supports human well-being, by providing resources, income, education, empowerment, and supporting culture and spirituality.

Influences the quality and integrity of the soil-water system, and the cycling of water and nutrients.

Contributes to the mitigation of the greenhouse effect and influences precipitation patterns and the local microclimate.

Between 1990 and 2010, Tanzania lost 19.4% of its forest area, or around 8 million hectares. Today, it is still one of the world's most deforested countries, with 400,000 hectares of forest destroyed every year. This is due to the expansion of agricultural and grazing land to the detriment of forests, felling for charcoal and firewood production, and forest fires caused by industrial activities.

Reforest'Action has joined forces with Friends of Usambara to restore the biodiversity of the Usambara Mountains, raise awareness among local populations of the importance of forests and agroforestry, and support them in the sustainable management of their trees.

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Spekboom

Reforest’Action is joining forces with C4 EcoSolutions and AfriCarbon, two South African companies into the protected reserves of Kuzuko and Koedoeskloof. The goal is to restore these ecosystems by planting more than 500,000 seeds of Spekboom, a local species which is essential to the ecological functioning of the region. The project will develop a new sustainable grazing management system to improve the carrying capacity of livestock without degrading the environment. Numerous benefits will also be generated: the return of biodiversity, including a population of elephants, rainwater infiltration improvement, restoration of arable land and improve the living conditions of the local populations.

Within the Eastern Cape, in South Africa, land desertification is due to the increasing pressure of livestock on pastureland. Nowadays, the increasing scarcity of vegetation cover and the degradation of local farmers’ land and surrounding reserves are causing many negative environmental effects, such as the drying up of water resources, loss of biodiversity and soil erosion. The plantation areas are made up of former degraded pastures, and are located close to areas that have been protected for several decades.

The project is led in the field by Anthony Mills, a geochemist and expert in environmental development projects. He is the founder of two companies, AfriCarbon in 2009 and C4 EcoSolutions in 2015, which ensure the technical and operational deployment of the project.

Reforest’Action is joining forces with C4 EcoSolutions and AfriCarbon, two South African companies into the protected reserves of Kuzuko and Koedoeskloof. The goal is to restore these ecosystems by planting seeds of Spekboom, a local species which is essential to the ecological functioning of the region. The project will develop a new sustainable grazing management system to improve the carrying capacity of livestock without degrading the environment. Numerous benefits will also be generated: the return of biodiversity, including a population of elephants, rainwater infiltration improvement, restoration of arable land and improve the living conditions of the local populations.

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Bois pin d'Australie

Algaroville

Gliciridia

Corossol épineux

Manguier

Chêne

Amandier des indes

Acajou cédrel

Develop family agroforestry around the town of Lavial, in the south of the country, restore the region's forests, which are heavily affected by deforestation. Focus in wood production, food security improvement, increase of families income and development of the region biodiversity.

GOOD_HEALTH_AND_WELL_BEING

REDUCED_INEQUALITIES

SUSTAINABLE_CITIES_AND_COMMUNITIES

RESPONSIBLE_CONSUMPTION_AND_PRODUCTION

Haiti is one of the most deforested countries in the world. In 1920, 60% of the country was covered by forest, compared with 2% today. The massive loss of forest cover is mainly due to charcoal production, the main source of energy for the population. The dramatic passage of Hurricane Matthew in October 2016 also destroyed a huge proportion of the trees still standing. Located in the Jacmel Valley, the Lavial community has a population of around 36,000\. Living conditions over there are precarious: a large proportion of the population lives below the poverty line. The local association OJUCAH is therefore deploying actions to support agriculture, livestock breeding, health and education.

The Organisation des Jeunes Universitaires de Carrefour pour l'Avancement d'Haïti (OJUCAH - Carrefour's Young Academics' Organization for the Advancement of Haiti) is an apolitical, non-profit, non-denominational association bringing together children, young and old, regardless of gender, ethnic group, creed or social affiliation. The organization was created in 1998 in the Haitian town of Carrefour, and is now active around the municipality of Lavial, with some 1,200 active members spread across various rural sections. the NGO is recognized as a charitable organization and registered with the Ministry of Social Affairs.

In Haiti's South-East department, in the Jacmel Valley, Reforest'Action and the Organisation des Jeunes Universitaires de Carrefour pour l'Avancement d'Haïti (OJUCAH) are collaborating with the "Trees That Feed" program to finance several fruit and forest species. The project enables both the reforestation of degraded areas around the associated villages and the development of agroforestry. The forest ecosystems thus recreated will offer a multitude of invaluable services for the climate, biodiversity and local populations, while agroforestry systems will enable families to generate additional income.

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Aulne andin

Eucalyptus

Cyprès

Recovery of degraded soils: conservation of water sources and fight against desertification - Valorisation of low value land. - Generation of income sources - Improvement of family nutrition. Protection and management of plantations in the initial phase Training in sustainable agriculture and pastoralism Social awareness of forestry and environmental issues Training and technical assistance in forestry and environmental management (installation and management).

CLEAN_WATER_AND_SANITATION

At an altitude of over 2,000 meters, the misty landscape of the Piura highlands is deceptive. This is indeed an arid ecosystem, made up of sparse dry forests threatened by desertification. The harsh climate is compounded by deforestation, a consequence of growing agricultural needs. According to the Servicio Nacional Forestal y de Fauna Silvestre, over 600,000 hectares of forest have been illegally cleared in the Piura region over the past twenty years. The province of Huancabamba, where the project financed by Reforest'Action is located, suffers the highest rate of deforestation. The near absence of vegetation exposes arable soils to water and wind erosion. Fires, which feed on the scanty brushwood, also represent a growing threat, while long periods without rainfall are dangerously drying up water resources.

Reforest’Action is associated with the Peruvian NGO Progreso, founded in 1993\. The NGO has more than 25 years of experience in the development of agroforestry systems, the improvement of food security for the populations of the Piura region and the fight against climate change. The Progreso team works hand in hand with local district governments and farming communities. Progreso will ensure the monitoring of the planted trees and raise awareness among villagers about sustainable agriculture and the importance of preserving forests.

Starting in 2019, this is the second natural ecosystem regeneration project financed by Reforest'Action in Peru. On the highlands of the Piura region and in partnership with Peruvian NGO PROGRESO, the actions carried out aim to regenerate the eroded soil and to fight against desertification. In this context, planting trees is an effective way of improving the soil, with many positive cascading effects: better water infiltration, control of water erosion, barrier against mudslides, recovery and maintenance of water resources, and improved soil fertility. At the surface, tree crowns act as windbreaks against wind erosion. Besides, the presence of vegetation in the landscape also generates a more humid microclimate, conducive to agriculture and livestock farming.

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Flamboyant

Cassia du Siam

Limonelle

Bigaradier

Palmiste marron

Arbre au diable

Reforest'Action is partnering with Agrinotech to restore the vegetation cover in 9 rural sections of the commune of Saint-Michel de l'Attalaye through plantation of 515,00 trees. The project also aims at raising awareness and involving local communities in the implementation of agricultural practices that are more respectful of the environment and forests.

GENDER_EQUALITY

Discovered in the 15th century by Christopher Columbus, the island of Hispaniola, comprising Haiti to the west and the Dominican Republic to the east, was originally 80% covered by a wide variety of trees. Today, Haiti is one of the most deforested countries in the world, with only 2% of the country's total surface area covered by woodland. In 2022 alone, deforestation in the country emitted 894,000 tons of CO2 equivalent. Today, facing extreme poverty, the rural population is forced to chop down trees to produce charcoal, the only fuel available in the absence of any national energy policy. Farming families are bearing the brunt of negative impacts resulting from forest ecosystem destruction: soil degradation and lower crop productivity, prolonged drought, water pollution and more.

Agrinotech stands for "new agricultural technologies". Agrinotech is a Haitian association specializing in the deployment of agricultural techniques conducive to the sustainable management of natural resources and the socio-economic development of local populations. Founded by a group of Haitian and American agronomists, Agrinotech focuses in particular on soil conservation and environmental preservation, as well as on training local producers in the latest sustainable farming methods.

Reforest'Action is partnering with Agrinotech to run an agroforestry project that is both socially meaningful and impact-generating. In nine sections of the Saint-Michel de l'Attalaye region, our partner is dedicated to raise awareness among local populations and to provide training in sustainable agriculture, the only viable means of subsistence in the face of climate change. Forest, fruit, and medicinal species have been integrated into the crops of farmers from the municipality of Saint-Michel-de-l'Attalaye. The primary goals of this program are to regenerate the area's vegetation cover and to ensure the food and economic security of local communities. However, long-term objectives include preserving water sources and groundwater, which are already under threat, and increasing stream flows in the Saint-Michel area, while providing people with sustainably sourced timber in order to reduce pressure on surrounding forests.

Bénéfices estimés des arbres plantés ou préservés

En savoir plus sur la mission de Reforest'Action

Actualités de Reforest'Action

Kuzuko: a certified project to restore the living

In South Africa, the restoration of Albany thickets is based on science

Sumatra: economic resilience depends on environmental restoration