In our fourth year of planting trees to offset all the carbon produced in the programme printing process, we are now planting our fourth site in the Kenyan region of Bore – which will take us to 66 acres covered by the end of the season, that’s 66,000 trees covering the equivalent of 37 Emirates Stadium pitches.
Clearing of the new site has begun in earnest. The thorn scrub and grasses that cover the ground need to be removed so that the new trees can be planted, once the rains arrive, which could be any day now.
After assembling early in the morning, it’s time to get to work. The women mostly used hand hoes and tackle the grasses, whilst the men use ‘pangas’ (machetes) to remove the hardier thorn scrub. The group have to work quickly because time is of the essence when the cloud-laden skies threaten a downpour.
The grasses and thorn scrub are cleared into piles to make room for the new trees – the brash is then burnt to fertilise the soil. When clearing land, larger indigenous trees are left standing to aid biodiversity in the new plantation.
Very soon the seedings will be planted – with an exciting new crop incorporated, which we’ll report on soon on these pages.
