Reforestation in Changalane, Mozambique. Planted in islands so the trees survive fire.

Why Mozambique

Mozambique is on the east coast of Africa. It has about 2,500 kilometres of coastline on the Indian Ocean, facing Madagascar. Around 31 million people live there. About 68% of them live in the countryside, and about 66% are under the age of 24.

The country once had large forests and mangrove estuaries. Most of that forest has been lost, mainly because trees were cut for firewood and charcoal. Ecologi’s page also notes that conflict in the north of the country has forced thousands of people from their homes and made schooling and healthcare harder to provide. Many families depend on small-scale farming to get by, which puts more pressure on the land.

Why Changalane

Changalane is a village where most people are adults and more than half of them are women, which Ecologi describes as unusual for the region. In the past the village lived from farming and from selling coal. Poverty is high, so people rely heavily on the land and the forest around them.

Years of cutting trees for firewood and charcoal left that land badly damaged. The project set out to replant it with native dry deciduous trees, the kind that belong there. Ecologi’s update from November 2020 says many of these trees are useful as well: some have pods or give animal feed, some have soft twigs used for cleaning teeth, and some give a medicinal gum.

Who does the planting

The project is run by Eden Reforestation Projects, a non-profit organisation. Eden hires local people to grow the seedlings, plant them and guard them until they are established. It calls the approach “Employ to Plant”.

At Changalane, Ecologi says the project employed 15 full-time nursery workers and 30 full-time planters from the village. The aim is to restore the forest and give families a steady income in the same place. When people have paid work, there is less need to cut trees to sell.

Planting for fire

Fires pass through this site fairly often. Ecologi’s team visited in May 2023 because they had heard about fires and wanted to see how the trees were doing. They found some trees with blackened trunks and branches, but also healthy new growth.

Eden’s team had taken several steps to help the trees survive.

• Fire-resistant species. The team chose trees that cope better with fire.
• Islands and firebreaks. Trees are planted in islands. Grass is cleared from inside each island and used to make a firebreak around it.
• Working with the community. The team talks with local people to reduce how often fires start on the site.

The project on record

Ecologi lists this project as “previously funded” and no longer takes contributions for it. Its timeline for the project starts in August 2020. The figures below are the ones Ecologi published in its project timeline, with the date of each.

The plan at the start was smaller than the result. In August 2020 the aim was up to one million trees. By February 2022 Ecologi reported more than twice that number.

1. August 2020The project is announced, with a plan to plant up to 1 million native trees over 4,947 acres and to employ 45 villagers to plant and protect them.
2. November 2020The seedlings leave the propagation station and are planted on the site. All are native dry deciduous trees.
3. December 2020Nearly 18% of the site has been planted.
4. February 2022The site is fully planted: 2,203,100 trees across 2,002 hectares of land.
5. July 2023Ecologi reports on its visit of May 2023. Despite regular fires, the trees are growing well.

2,203,100trees planted across 2,002 hectares by February 2022, when Ecologi reported the site was full.

How the project is checked

We do not choose or run the projects ourselves. They are selected and monitored by Ecologi, and this project carries the “Nature Project Ecologi Approved” mark on its Ecologi page. Ecologi staff also visited the site in person in May 2023 and published what they saw.

Ecologi keeps a public record of what each of its members has funded, so our contribution can be checked by anyone. The link is in the project details below.

What Printlogik has funded here

Through the Print A Tree Project, Printlogik orders have funded 3,665 trees at Changalane.

Because Ecologi no longer takes contributions for this project, that figure is our final count here. Every order we print still funds planting: the contribution is made for you through Ecologi and goes to the projects it is funding today.

How your order gets here

1. You order printAny order, of any size. There is nothing to tick and nothing extra to pay.
2. We make a contributionEach invoice triggers a contribution from Printlogik to Ecologi.
3. Trees go in the groundEcologi funds projects like this one, and records what we have funded in public.

The UN global goals it supports

The United Nations has set 17 Sustainable Development Goals for a fairer, healthier planet by 2030. Ecologi records this project as supporting 10 of them.

• 1No poverty
• 2Zero hunger
• 3Good health and well-being
• 4Quality education
• 5Gender equality
• 8Decent work and economic growth
• 10Reduced inequalities
• 11Sustainable cities and communities
• 13Climate action
• 15Life on land

Where it is

Changalane, Mozambique · 26.4°S, 32.1°E

Location	Changalane, Mozambique
Type of project	Reforestation
Run by	Eden Reforestation Projects
Status	Previously funded. Ecologi reported the site fully planted in February 2022 and no longer takes contributions for it
Funded by Printlogik	3,665 trees
Full record	See it on Ecologi