Community-Led Ecosystem Restoration & Climate Resilience

TRCO restores degraded wetlands, rivers and forests together with the communities who depend on them bringing back biodiversity, water and climate resilience across Tanzania’s most vulnerable landscapes.

Ecosystem restoration

Native trees and assisted natural regeneration to recover habitats, soils and water.

Community engagement

Restoration groups, environmental education and participatory land-use planning.

Sustainable livelihoods

Alternative incomes and energy-efficient technologies that ease pressure on nature.

Officials and partners tour a TRCO nursery — District officials, scouts and partners tour a TRCO-supported community nursery (Photo credit: Nyemo chilagane).

Bushenya Forest Landscape Restoration (2024/2025)

The Bushenya Forest Reserve in Missenyi District, Kagera Region, is one of the region’s most important catchment forests about 9,000 hectares that hold water, wildlife and livelihoods together. Nearly 4,000 hectares are now severely degraded by farming encroachment, illegal harvesting and fire, drying the Kanjanja and Byeju lakes and worsening floods in Bunazi Town.

With Missenyi District Council, TRCO raised a nursery of 35,000 indigenous seedlings. 16,000 were planted in degraded sections of the reserve and key watersheds; the rest went to schools, homesteads and community woodlots extending tree cover and stewardship beyond the reserve boundary.

Partners and community members raising seedlings — Conservation partners and volunteers work alongside the community at the nursery (Photo credit: Fenrick Msigwa).

Hands-on restoration work potting and tending indigenous seedlings (Photo credit:Fenrick Msigwa).

Wetland in the restoration landscape — Wetlands and open water in the restoration landscape protecting these is central to the work (Photo credit: Nyemo Chilagane).

Mbarali River Sub-catchment Freshwater Restoration

The Mbarali sub-catchment feeds the Great Ruaha River system. TRCO assessed 200 water sources wetlands and springs across 20 villages and found roughly 65% under human pressure. Working through Water User Associations, we raised 40,000 water-friendly native seedlings and began replanting riparian zones and springs, starting in five villages.

Condition of assessed water sources — *Figure 2.* Current condition of the assessed water sources across the Mbarali sub-catchment (good, degraded and critically degraded).

Community nursery in Mbarali — Community nursery raising water-friendly native seedlings (Photo credit: Nyemo Chilagane).

Community members tend seedlings at the nursery (Photo credit: Nyemo Chilagane).

Planting is done hand-in-hand with local communities and Water User Associations, who take ownership of the restored springs, riverbanks and water sources.

Community tree planting near a water source — Community members and TRCO staff plant seedlings to protect degraded water sources (Photo credit: Nyemo Chilagane).

Planting an indigenous seedling — A young native tree goes into the ground during a community planting day(Photo credit: Nyemo Chilagane).

Impact so far

75,000trees planted across both landscapes

200freshwater sources assessed in 20 villages

~9,000 hacatchment forest under restoration

Join us

TRCO welcomes government institutions, conservation partners, researchers and donors to help scale this work restoring forests and freshwater, protecting biodiversity, and building a climate-resilient future. Get in touch to partner with us.