Justdiggit:
your contribution to cool the earth
Explore Tanzania is a partner of Justdiggit, which through regreening projects encourages local communities in Tanzania, among others, to plant trees and dig rainwater bunds to combat global warming. A green earth is a cool earth.
Justdiggit is a Dutch based non- profit organization that focuses on restoring nature, especially in dry and vulnerable areas in Africa. Justdiggit fights against global warming, which leads to water and food scarcity, poverty and loss of biodiversity.
Nature-based solutions (restoration of grasslands, forests and wetlands) can prevent 37% of global warming. In addition to absorbing CO2 from the air, returning vegetation ensures a better life for millions of people and animals.
Cooling down the Planet!
1. The beginning
The founders of Justdiggit, Dennis Kuipers en Peter Westerveld, wanted to combat the impact of climate change and bring nature back to Africa. They do this through regreening projects such as reforestation, rainwater collection and creating (global) awareness about the potential of landscape restoration. Justdiggit works together with local partners.
Their ultimate goal is to involve everyone in this mission and make Africa green and cool again before 2030.
2. Regreening programs
Justdiggit’s approach includes various projects aimed at regreening landscapes. Together with local communities and partners, degraded and dried-out areas are restored in a rapid, sustainable manner. Such as, for example, digging ‘rainwater harvesting bunds’ (bunds) and reforesting these areas.
These bunds help to retain rainwater and allow infiltration into the soil, allowing vegetation to recover and improving water availability. This contributes to regreening the landscape and restoring biodiversity.
“This is the decade of doing.
Dig in & help cool down the planet!”
3. Campaigns
Justdiggit’s regreening programs are effective, but more is needed to combat climate change. After all, with more people you make more impact. With its awareness campaigns, Justdiggit tries to reach, inspire and mobilize as many farmers as possible throughout Africa to restore the earth using nature-based solutions. The educational communication tools that Justdiggit uses should encourage farmers to start regreening themselves. Results in their own areas are shown and tips and tricks are given about regreening. But useful information is also shared, such as the arrival of rain.
4. Snow on the Kilimanjaro
One of Justdiggit’s projects concerned the snow on Kilimanjaro. The idea was to preserve and even restore the mountain’s snow and ice caps, which are melting and shrinking due to climate change, by involving local communities and farmers in reforestation and restoration of the surrounding landscape.
Justdiggit’s Kilimanjaro Alive project aimed to green the local region, retain rainwater and thereby indirectly preserve and even expand the snow and ice caps on Kilimanjaro.
5. Impact until now
Since its founding in 2012, Justdiggit has been working with local communities and partners to achieve its objectives. To date, 400,000 hectares of land have been restored, 14 million trees have been brought back and 315,000 water bunds have been dug. There are 2000 Champion farmers and 12 grass seed banks.
Actively involving local communities ensures sustainable involvement and positive social and economic impact in their own region.
6. Kisi Hai and Earth Smiles
In Tanzania, 14 million trees have been returned using the Kisiki Hai technique. This is a landscape restoration technique to allow trees to grow and protect young trees that have returned naturally. These trees absorb CO2 from the air, ensure that water can better penetrate the ground and reduce erosion.
More than 315 thousand water bunds have already been dug in both Kenya and Tanzania. These bunds are crescent-shaped pits, approximately 14 m2 in size, that collect rainwater so that it has more time to soak into the soil and restore it. This recovery also means that the seeds can grow in the soil, making the area green and cool again. These bunds are also called ‘earth smiles’.
7. Projects in Tanzania
Justdiggit encourages local communities (for a small fee) to plant trees and collect rainwater – also in Tanzania, for example in the regions of Arusha, Dodoma and Singida.
Arusha: restoring vegetation to grasslands and fields of farmers and herders. They are highly dependent on the land as a source of income.
Dodoma and Singida: bringing back (millions of) trees and collecting rainwater using traditional techniques. By making the land green again, the soil is restored and the productivity of the land is improved.
In Fanya Chini [throw it down] technique, farmers dig ditches to retain water on the land, while in Fanya Juu [throw it up] technique, embankments are created to retain rainwater on the fields.
8. Explore Tanzania and Justdiggit
Traveling causes environmental damage, as a result the earth is warming up. Unfortunately, there is no alternative to flying to Tanzania. One approach is, namely Justdiggit’s regreening projects. Just like Justdiggit, we also believe that the earth can be cooled again by regreening the landscape. As a partner, we therefore wholeheartedly support these regreening projects by Justdiggit and offer its travelers the opportunity to contribute to them. We go green together. So dig in!
Do you have any questions, comments and/or would you like to participate as a supporter? let us know or look here!
