Why is the combination of agriculture and reforestation a good solution?
Today, to answer that question, we're focusing on one of the projects supported by the Furthr app users: Agroforestry in Rwanda.
Forest loss in Rwanda
The Republic of Rwanda is a small country just south of the equator, in Central Africa’s Great Rift Valley. The country has a range of diverse ecosystems, including wetlands, tropical forests, and wooded savannas. Of course, all these different ecosystems also mean a wealth of biodiversity!
Unfortunately, farming and overexploitation of natural resources pose a threat to these ecosystems, including Rwanda’s forests - from 2001 to 2022, Rwanda lost 43,100 hectares of tree cover. This is equivalent to a 8.7% decrease in tree cover since 2000.
This loss has impacted the country's soil and therefore its climate resiliency, mainly because of:
Increased exposure to erosion
Reduced water retention capacity
Increased leaching (the loss of water-soluble plant nutrients)
Changed soil alkalinity
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