The overall aim of the UFA-REFOREST project is to plant more than 240,000 trees in the forest management units of four forestry companies in Cameroon: GRUMCAM, PALLISCO, SEEF and SEFAC. On an operational level, the project will reforest 100 hectares of plantations and enrich 21,500 logging pits and parks. The end result is equivalent to the enrichment of a minimum of 1,175 hectares of forest in the Cameroon massif.
The first 2023 reforestation campaign was marked by a strong mobilization of teams in the field to increase the area reforested, the number of felling gaps/parks enriched and the number of trees planted. By the end of the year, across all four companies, we had reforested 14.35 hectares of full plantations, and 4,814 felling gaps/parks had been enriched. A total of 46,617 trees were planted during this first 2023 campaign.
Since the start of the project, we have reforested 28.03 hectares of open plantations and enriched 5,934 felling holes/parks. To date, we have planted 70,594 trees. Overall, the average rate of achievement in relation to the project's reforestation objectives is around 28%.
This low rate of achievement is due to a number of difficulties encountered in the field during planting. These difficulties had an impact on the achievement of reforestation objectives during this campaign. Work in the field was slowed down or even halted, preventing the teams from truly mobilizing in the field. The main consequence was a reduction in surface areas, the number of felling holes/parks and the number of trees planted. These include
Faced with these difficulties, the project's partners have mobilized to provide the field teams with more technical and logistical support. Hopes are high for the next planting campaigns, particularly in terms of the stock of seedlings available in the nurseries. At the end of this first 2023 reforestation campaign, we have over 102,000 seedlings in the nursery. This stock gives us confidence that seedlings will be available for the second 2023 campaign (September-October) and the first 2024 campaign (April-June). With the support of the companies involved in the project, we intend to increase the production of seedlings in the nursery and the areas to be reforested during future reforestation campaigns.
