YILNAC Network supports young indigenous people in the restoration of community forests through the planting and rational management of traditional trees in the Mwenga Territory.

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by Polydor MUSAFIRI, Young Indigenous Leaders for Nature and Climate -YILNAC Network

traditional seedlings ready for planting.

interdiction d'utilisation sans autorisation de l'auteur.

Young indigenous people living in the Mwenga Territory are faced with the overexploitation and advanced degradation of community forests, and this is having a negative impact on indigenous populations in the sense that young indigenous people used to concentrate on foraging for edible caterpillars in the Mwenga Territory. At present, community forests are unfortunately overexploited, degraded, affected by climate change and deprived of their biodiversity.

To remedy this situation, the Young Indigenous Leaders for Nature and Climate (YILNAC Network) has set up a project to support young indigenous people in restoring community forests by restoring 260 hectares of traditional tree species and managing traditional trees rationally, through the training of 180 young indigenous people in the Mwenga Territory.

This project was supported by Climate Change Africa Opportinuties (CCAO).

Last update: 31 May 2023

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Context

Challenges addressed

Erratic rainfall

Extreme heat

Floods

Increasing temperatures

Land and Forest degradation

Loss of Biodiversity

Sea level rise

Shift of seasons

Erosion

Ecosystem loss

Unsustainable harvesting incl. overfishing

Inefficient management of financial resources

Lack of access to long-term funding

Lack of alternative income opportunities

Changes in socio-cultural context

Lack of food security

Social conflict and civil unrest

Unemployment / poverty

Scale of implementation

Local

Subnational

National

Ecosystems

Tropical deciduous forest

Theme

Disaster risk reduction

Mitigation

Ecosystem services

Restoration

Sustainable financing

Gender mainstreaming

Food security

Health and human wellbeing

Sustainable livelihoods

Indigenous people

Local actors

Traditional knowledge

Land management

Outreach & communications

Science and research

Forest Management

Standards/ certification

Location

Mwenga, South Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo

West and Central Africa

East and South Africa

Impacts

From community mobilization of young indigenous people, capacity-building workshops, identification of traditional tree species, installation of nurseries and training of young indigenous people, to the launch of a tree-planting campaign, we have achieved the following results:

260 hectares restored to traditional species hosting edible caterpillars, i.e. 104,000 traditional trees planted in the community forests of Mwenga in the province of Sud-Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo;
8 local indigenous forest monitoring committees set up;
180 young indigenous people trained in the rational management of traditional caterpillar trees.

The implementation of this project is beneficial in that :

It contributes to the fight against climate change: planting traditional caterpillar host trees in community forests helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions and global warming;
It contributes to the fight against poverty, as it enables young indigenous people to create a source of income and helps improve the socio-economic conditions of indigenous families;
It contributes to the fight against hunger, as the use of caterpillars as a food product helps to alleviate food insecurity.