Replanting Trees in Kenya
The Green Belt Movement has established a programme to restore degraded forest ecosystems around Mount Kenya using satellite imagery. The movement’s replanting programmes strive to support local populations at the forest edge by generating revenues from tree planting.
Satellite imagery was used at five stages of the Mount Kenya project, supported by Planet Action:
- Identify zones suitable for replanting
- Delimit extents and potential revenue for local communities
- Inform local communities
- Estimate the biomass
- Monitor growth of newly planted trees
Following this study, geoinformation technologies will be used in other Green Belt Movement programmes seeking to restore forest zones and improve means of subsistence for local communities. Professor Wangari Maathai, the founder of the Green Belt Movement, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004.
