Fizi, South Kivu:- According to the Jeunes Methodistes organization, these seedlings distributed to 500 members of mutual solidarity “MUSO” will contribute to reducing the pressure on community forests, they will also facilitate the fight against climate change, because these trees which will be planted will fight erosion in this part of the South Kivu province. These trees will help also members of the community to regenerate income as they will be sold and this will fight against poverty in households.
The distribution activities of these seedlings took place from May 24 to 28, 2024 in the presence of group leaders, environmental supervisors in these entities and forest management committees. This distribution of seedlings is carried out as part of the Leading the Change-LtC2 project.
For this WWF-DRC partner structure, the beneficiaries of these seedlings are the members of the Mutual Solidarity (MUSO) of the village of Mboko in the Babungwe North group where distribution is made to 24 Muso.
Other beneficiaries are those from the village of Lusenda in the Balala Nord group and there too we distributed 30 MUSOs without forgetting the beneficiaries who are found in the village of Sanza in the Basimukuma North group which does not have MUSO but in this corner the distribution of seedlings is made with the aim of forming Mutual Solidarity Associations.
In order to properly carry out their seedling distribution activity, the Jeunes Methodistes organization has set criteria for selecting beneficiaries. Among the required criteria, the beneficiary must be native and residing in one of these 3 villages above. cited.
The beneficiary must also have a field in this environment. The organizers of this activity indicate that the members who do not have fields were not selected because they first had to find fields where these seedlings will be planted, which is why the criterion of having the fields was taken into account when selecting the beneficiaries of the seedlings.
Another criterion is that the beneficiary must be a member of one of these MUSOs. Jeunes Méthodistes decided to work with these MUSO members, because they have structures called Self Hep groups who are in the community and have already worked with WWF. According to the Young Methodists organization, this will allow them to follow the evolution of the process and consolidate the achievements of WWF in this area.
During these activities, 1000 seedlings were distributed to 500 MUSO members including 400 shrubs for 200 people for the village of Lusenda in the Balala Nord group, 200 shrubs for 100 people for the village of Sanza in the Basimukuma group as well as 400 shrubs for 200 people for the village of Mboko in the Babungwe North group.
The Jeunes Méthodistes organization, which distributed these seedlings, asks the beneficiaries to protect these trees because this will contribute to the protection of the environment in their entities.
The leaders of the groups present in these activities asked the Young Methodists organization and its partner WWF-RDC not to stop there. But to continue with these distributions because planting trees remains a need in their entities.
These local authorities are asking Young Methodists organization and its partner WWF-RDC to do the same activity even for those who are not in the Mutual Solidarity so that the entire population participates in the protection of community forests by planting trees in their fields.
The beneficiaries of these seedlings thank the Young Methodists organization and its partner WWF-RDC for this extremely important activity. They promise to manage these seedlings well and monitor their fields well. According to them, this activity comes on right time, because the need was felt in the community.