When we think of planting trees, the first idea that normally comes to mind is digging a hole and planting a sapling by hand. This traditional method is widely used, from backyard gardening to large-scale reforestation projects. Planting trees offers a wide array of benefits for the environment and overall human health and well-being. However, hand planting trees is not always proven successful, saplings can sometimes wither and be attacked by the environmental stressors around them if they have not grown naturally.
One of the main threats to hand-planted saplings is termite activity, particularly from root-feeding species. These insects can destroy young trees by consuming their roots and bark. Our first reforestation project with Imire Rhino and Wildlife Conservation demonstrated this challenge firsthand. Many of our original trees are now in poor health due to termite infestations attracted by the disturbance caused by hand planting.
So, what can we do to improve the success rate of new saplings at risk of destruction from termites? Cattle!
At Imire, we introduced a new reforestation method. Our projects have begun using cattle to support the growth of our new tree seeds and saplings. The cattle ingest feed, which includes the seeds needed for planting new trees, and are placed in the enclosed reforestation areas for a short period of time to produce manure, fertilising the ground and dropping the seeds. The manure also helps to facilitate the growth of idle seeds left in the area, providing us with more and healthier trees!
These reforestation areas are fenced off to allow for the growth of nutrient rich grasses and further promote the growth of our trees without interference from humans and other large wildlife from disrupting the process and consuming the saplings and grasses that are growing.
Fencing off our reforestation areas at Imire will be beneficial for the land in the future as the nutrient rich grass is more diverse than grass outside of the boundary areas meaning that once the fences are removed, browsers will be able to benefit and gain the vitamins and minerals they need, due to the improved quality of the landscape.
This nature-led approach is already showing promising results with an increase of 70% in tree survivability. At Imire, we’ve observed increased biodiversity and overall improvements in ecosystem health within the fenced areas. Could cattle be the unexpected heroes of future reforestation efforts?