Vi Agroforestry partnered with Gomba District Farmers Association (GODFA) during the ALIVE program (2017 -2022) and facilitated the communities through collaborative forest management approach to enrich, restore and regenerate the reserve through Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) and enrichment planting. Gomba District Farmers Association also supported the establishment of collaborative forest committees who have taken charge of protecting and conducting community dialogues and trainings on the importance of the reserve, how best it can be restored and used through trainings on use of wood-saving techniques that are more energy efficient, cleaner with less smoke, and reduces the use of biomass translating to reduced pressure on the forest reserve.
Through these committees, and technical backstopping, trainings on sustainable agriculture land management practices, farmers have increased knowledge that has enabled them to improve the soil quality on their farms. This has in turn seen them increase productivity, and preserve the ecosystem. Additionally, the farmers nutritional needs have been met through access to diversified foods i.e. wild edible fruits, vegetables, herbal medicine for home use, as well as contribute to the global climate action through carbon sequestration.
So far over 25,000 agroforestry trees such as Terminalia Superba, Grevillea Robusta, Khaya, Measopsis and others have been planted on this site. Community members now understand the importance of trees in their ecosystem and have embraced agroforestry.