Amid rapid deforestation in Uganda’s Kalangala district, the School Food Forest Initiative launched a tree-planting project in school premises in 2019, aiming to instill knowledge and value for conservation in local communities by involving students planting and managing trees. The initiative has just become part of the Global Landscapes Forum. Its coordinator, Ngobi Joel, said becoming a GLFx chapter will help strengthen the group’s work against deforestation in Uganda. The School Food Forest Initiative has established nurseries where schoolchildren and others in the community grow seedlings for a range of indigenous tree species, other fruit trees and medicinal plants. The NGO has also set up agroforestry and vegetable plots on school grounds that serve both to provide food for students and as demonstration sites for how to make use of the land in ways that conserve the environment, Joel told Mongabay by email from Kalangala town. The project has so far established eight school forests, Joel said. Becoming a chapter of the GLF will enhance this work, he said. “Getting advice on agroforestry design, keeping an eye on biodiversity, and checking climate impact will ensure our projects are sustainable and help school communities as much as possible.” The School Food Forest Initiative is one of 12 new GLFx chapters announced in February, expanding a movement that mobilizes and connects grassroots efforts on restoration of degraded landscapes around the world. Fairness and sustainability: Acting to restore African landscapes By involving school children in planting trees and growing vegetables, the School Food…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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