Of course it does! We’re growing our neem trees on the equator and the rainy season is becoming increasingly sporadic due to climate change.
Fortunately, we have some giant water butts that have filled up in rainier times, allowing our team out in Bore to get busy quenching the thirst of our saplings until the Sky Gods get their act together.
Lois Mwenda (above, wife of Alex, the Bore project manager who we have mentioned previously and who made a special visit to Emirates last year) collects the empty jerry cans – she can carry a remarkable amount of them.
Once full, the jerry cans are delivered to the planting site on a truck. They are then carried out to the seedlings on our new site – note the large mature indigenous trees growing on the site have been left standing to aid biodiversity. The women are well practised in carrying the heavy water cans on their heads, whereas the men struggle with them on their shoulders.
Each tree is “pit planted” to conserve any rain that does fall and the pit needs filling with at least four litres of water to keep the seedlings happy. That mounts up to a lot of jerry cans when you have 12,500 plus seedlings to supply. Despite the lack of rainfall the seedlings are growing fast and shouldn't need any further irrigation after this soaking.
Arsenal Forest’s Kundeni kids
It’s not just the adults in Bore who love neem trees. Since we have been funding neem tree planting in Bore, lots of local schools have joined in the initiative by planting the same variety, which thanks to its association with the club, is now known as “the Arsenal tree”. And anything that enhances the neem’s popularity is great because it’s the perfect variety for this equatorial region: hardy against drought and disease, grows rapidly and is a good timber crop.
School grounds in Kenya are generally barren due to deforestation so there’s plenty of room for neem. Kundeni Primary School is very near both Arsenal Forest planting sites and many of the pupils’ parents are employed on the project, either on potting up the seedlings in the nursery, planting the trees on the plots or doing the regular weeding that ensures that our trees get all the precious water they need.
Ultimately these children will be the custodians of the trees, so as part of the school partnership programme the pupils are encouraged to visit the nursery, handle the neem seedlings and learn about the importance of tropical forests in keeping the planet cool.
You can also see them sharpening up their close control with Bore Lions’ coach Rodgers Jefwa at the original Arsenal Forest site, where the trees seem to be growing faster than the youngsters!
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