Mau Tree Rescue Hub
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Funded by
Mau Tree Rescue Hub was established in May 2024 in Mau Forest, Kenya, home to Ogiek indigenous people. The hub is located in Nessuit village in the eastern part of Mau. This community space is the result of a collaboration between Guardians Worldwide and PRO-Home (Programme for the Heritage of Ogiek and Mother Earth) and it is being led by Leonard Mindore.
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We are collecting seeds from Mau Forest's native trees, especially forest dombeya (Dombeya torrida), large-leafed cordia (Croton megalocarpus), Meru oak (Vitex keniensis), black ironwood (Olea capensis) and African cherry (Prunus Africana).​
Seed Banks
Tree Rescue
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The saplings are rescued from places outside the forest, such as roadsides or on farmlands, where the saplings would otherwise be eaten by cows or destroyed by human activity. The hope is to eventually have 5000 saplings of many indigenous species that can be nurtured and then transplanted into Mau Forest when the trees are strong enough to survive.
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Reforestation
This work comes at a crucial time when much of the Mau Forest is being felled to make way for farmland and
commercial timber projects. Ogiek communities are facing evictions from the forest. The survival of Ogiek communities is dependent on the survival of the Mau Forest.
This project has been funded by the Rapid Response Fund and individual donors. The project is ongoing and will require more funds as it grows to facilitate community learning projects and the continued rescue of more tree saplings. The hope is to establish other Tree Rescue Hubs within Kenya.
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We grow our trees from the seeds of the oldest trees in Mau Forest to preserve strong genes, or else we rescue them from nearby farms, paths and roadsides. Sometimes we receive tree donations from neighbors and friends. Above you can see our dombeya nursery (left), and a fully grown, veteran dombeya tree (right)
As of July 2024, 1000 Dombeya tree saplings have been rescued and a further 1000 purchased. The Dombeya tree is an indigenous species to the forest and is important to Ogiek people as it is known for producing the best, white honey.
Our Approach
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We follow a rights based approach to reforestation. That means we prioritize human rights and rights of nature in everything we do.
The Right to Land
A forest starts from with the land. We promote territorial rights as well as the right to clean soils and waters. Collective lands and community access to land is vital to our understanding of forest as community.
The Right to Seed
We believe that communities have a right to seed and future growth. It is especially important that communities have stores of native species, and that seed diversity is secured for future food stability and protection of biodiversity.
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The Right to Growth
We support the right to grow life-- to cultivate, to nurture, to enliven and to invigorate land and community without the risk of degradation, debilitation and destruction for the sake of economic interests.
The Right to Lifecycles
Our approach finally requires support of a woodland’s existing efforts at regeneration through life cycles; nitrogen, water, soil and food cycles especially.
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