As part of the environmental pillar of the Institute, we aim to contribute to projects protecting the environment, including reforestation programs, ecosystem restoration and climate projects. End of 2023, the Candriam Institute for Sustainable Development renewed our partnership with We Forest, an international NGO specialising in reforestation of degraded land in primarily tropical regions.
After the initial project to help restore the Casamance mangroves in Senegal, this donation will focus on the Katanino reserve in Zambia. Forty-two percent of the Katanino Forest Reserve has already been lost and another 18% is heavily degraded. This trend is likely to increase if there is no intervention, as the needs of the local community living in or around the forest are growing.
This three-year partnership seeks to protect and restore 425 ha of the degraded land in that region, which has had a huge impact on the local communities. Indeed, We Forest’s efforts also aim to:
- Engage the farmers around the reserve in restoration, and train them in agroforestry and capacity-building, to ensure full local support, ownership and responsibility for the forest.
- Establish a livelihood plan to alleviate the pressure on the forest resources by providing alternative sources of income from activities such as sustainable agriculture, agroforestry and beekeeping.
For more information on this project, please visit the WeForest website: Katanino - WeForest.