Last week we were sent pictures of the first trees we planted back in December 2021 – just look at the size of them! We are talking sturdy 3-4m specimens, which is such an amazing site for everyone involved in the project.
Being on the equator, the conditions for growth in Bore are perfect, hence the rapid rise of our 32,000-strong forest – although obviously the trees range from tiny saplings ready to go into the ground to these giants.
Sunshine has followed the heavy rains and there’s nothing stopping our drought and insect-resistant neem trees heading higher and higher still – and we have already populated an area equivalent to over 17 Emirates football pitches.
Hive of activity
You may also remember that the Arsenal Forest is home to a large number of bees, and we’re waiting patiently for them to produce honey in the same way the trees have sprouted leaves.
Francis Mranja is a senior member of the BGU workers cooperative that manages all the tree planting in Bore, but you can also find him pacifying the bees with a smoker to assess the honey production. Verdict: The bees are doing fine but we’re going to have to wait a bit longer for our Arsenal Honey because the prolonged heavy rains have kept the bees at home in their hives more than usual at this time of year.
But the rain has helped all the neem trees in Bore (like the mature one, above) produce plenty of flowers, which means that when it finally stops those hungry bees will have plenty of nectar to feed on and pollen to bring back to their hives.
Now we just need the rain gods to decide to move out of the area for a few weeks and let the bees do their thing…
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