Tree Nursery at UWCEA Moshi

An initiative by a group of students resulted in the creation of a tree nursery at UWC East Africa (Moshi Campus). We started raising funds following the outbreak of wildfires on Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak of Africa, which were partly caused by unprecedented spikes in temperatures in the preceding days. These wildfires shattered our community’s heart as we witnessed this wonder of nature get eaten by flames. Whilst efforts were made to contain and extinguish the fire; a group of outgoing students started a fundraiser to dispatch a helicopter which would help put out the fires. After weeks of forest fires, chipping away at Africa’s highest treasure of biodiversity; the fire thankfully subsided on its own.

With the fire being out before having the chance to use the funds towards dispatching the helicopter, the money was repurposed into building a tree nursery on our Campus. We managed to build a 5m x 16m nursery with the help of our team and some “fundis” (our maintenance team personnel) putting in several hours a week. The purpose of this nursery is to allow our students to learn about the importance of nurturing trees, while also having sufficient trees to supply the school with. We also looked forward to expanding outwards, and collaborating with other NGOs to reforest the area. We put in efforts to grow some endangered tree species in addition to the above. Whilst permission was not granted to reforest on the mountain, there are areas around us that are in need of reforestation. This should allow an increase in biodiversity, an increase in the population of local trees, and be able to reduce the damage on microclimate temperature of our area. Despite not being an initiative of our Sustainability Committee, this project has been led by passionate UWC students who take it upon themselves to create initiatives for a more sustainable future.

For more information, please look at our website: https://uwceatp.wixsite.com/uwceatrees