Community seed banks
Elders identify mother trees of Olea africana, Juniperus procera and Hagenia abyssinica; youth collect and store seed with traditional drying methods.
Reforestation
Kulal Indigenous Tree Initiative
Restoring 50 hectares of degraded cloud forest with indigenous species nurtured by local women's groups.
- Location
- Gatab, Arapal & Larachi, Mount Kulal
- Timeline
- 2019 - present · Ongoing
- Partners
- Kenya Forest Service · Marsabit County Government · Village women's groups
The challenge
Why this work matters
Mount Kulal's cloud forest is an isolated island of moisture in one of Kenya's driest counties. It feeds the springs that sustain thousands of pastoralist households, yet decades of charcoal burning, fuelwood harvesting and prolonged drought have thinned its canopy along the lower slopes.
Conventional replanting projects failed here because seedlings were trucked in from lowland nurseries, poorly matched to altitude, and abandoned after the launch ceremony. What Kulal needed was not more seedlings, but local ownership of the entire chain: seed collection, nursery, planting and aftercare.
What we do
Activities on the ground
Three village nurseries
Women's groups in Gatab, Arapal and Larachi run the nurseries, earning income per surviving seedling rather than per seedling delivered.
Rain-window planting
Planting is timed to the short and long rains, with basins dug ahead of the first storms to trap runoff.
Twelve-month aftercare
Each planting block is assigned to a household that waters, mulches and protects it through the first dry season.
Results
What has changed
42,000+
Indigenous seedlings raised
78%
Seedling survival rate
50 ha
Forest under restoration
9
Women's groups earning income
- Three previously dry seasonal springs now flow for an additional six weeks each year.
- Household income from nursery work averages KES 6,400 per month during planting seasons.
- Charcoal kiln sightings in the restoration blocks have fallen by more than two thirds.
From the field
Project gallery
“We used to plant trees for visitors to photograph. Now we plant them for our grandchildren to sit under, and we are paid for the ones that live.”
Downloads
Documents & data
Project brief (2026)
Eight-page overview of methodology, budget and outcomes.
Species & survival dataset
Per-block planting records and annual survival counts.
Requesting a document? Write to us via the contact page and we will send it directly.
