Climate, Environment and Natural Resources

Healthy landscapes support resilient livelihoods. In the Rwenzori, the Albertine Rift and Western Uganda, JESE works with communities, local governments and conservation agencies to restore degraded forests, farmland, wetlands and river catchments, so the people who care for these landscapes also benefit from them. JESE has led community-based forest restoration in this region for more than thirty years.

Households and institutions plant indigenous and multipurpose trees on farms, riverbanks and degraded land, and farmers protect and prune naturally regrowing trees to restore farmland at low cost and at scale.

Community forest groups hold formal agreements with the National Forestry Authority, and communities agree to protect forests, wetlands and river buffers, with support for their livelihoods in return.

JESE restores riverside buffers, wetlands and catchments through integrated water resource management, protects the ecological corridors that connect Uganda's protected areas, and links farmers and community groups to carbon markets, so that tree planting and restoration can earn them income.

Why it matters

Healthy ecosystems and secure livelihoods depend on each other. JESE works with communities, local governments, conservation agencies and development partners.

We restore forests, wetlands and river buffers, and support the community groups that protect them.