LEAD Foundation and Justdiggit (Netherlands) started a beautiful program together as an answer to local and global climate changes. This is done through the training of local farmers in various landscape restoration techniques. One of them is FMNR (Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration). This is an amazing and costless method where tree stumps are pruned and protected to enable them to regrow again into a mature tree. Another one is digging big waterbunds in the earth, so that water has a better chance to infiltrate into the soil and let grasses grow in and around the bunds. The more vegetation, the more evaporation, the more rain and the cooler the local climate.

The main goal is to fight climate change by regreening arid areas in the world. But for me the program in Tanzania goes way beyond this: it is about making people mindful to connect again to nature. To think about how to combine agricultural and daily life activities with nature. It is about changing mindsets so that more sustainable human behaviour can be achieved. When do we live a sustainable life? When it is done out of the heart… With passion and compassion. When we are aware and we feel what is needed to be done.

Very important is that our nature projects give ownership to local communities in the project. Because in the end, they make the change. They can choose how they respond to challenges. It is important to make people aware about their responsibility and capability. We can all take up the shovel and start today!

Article by Lieke Hulsof.. read full article here