News & media
What is coming up
Planting days, community sessions and public meetings. Dates move at short notice with the rains — we would rather move one than put seedlings into dry ground.
Nothing scheduled right now
Planting days are announced a couple of weeks ahead, once the rains look settled. The fastest way to hear about the next one is the newsletter, or by signing up as a volunteer — we contact volunteers first.
Before you come
What a planting day actually involves
A morning of physical work on a riverbank, usually in mud, usually finishing by early afternoon. Nobody needs experience and nobody needs their own tools.
The part people are least prepared for is that a planting day is mostly conversation. The households farming the bank are there, and much of the morning goes on agreeing where the buffer runs before anything reaches the ground.
- 07:30
Meet, usually at the site
We send the exact point a few days ahead. If you need a lift from Mbarara, say so when you sign up — there is normally room in a vehicle.
- 08:00
Walk the stretch
Whoever is running the day walks the bank with the group and the households, and shows where the buffer line has been agreed and why it runs where it does.
- 09:00
Planting
Bamboo at the waterline, Markhamia and Ficus set back, fruit trees behind that on the households' own ground. Tools, seedlings and gloves are provided.
- 12:30
Count, mark and finish
Every planting is counted and the stretch is marked so it can be found again at six and twelve months. Lunch is provided. Most people are away by two.
Bring
- Boots, or shoes you do not mind ruining
- A hat and water
- Long sleeves — the bank vegetation cuts
Leave at home
- Your own seedlings — species and provenance matter
- Anything you would mind getting mud on
- An expectation of a photo opportunity
Why dates move
Seedlings go in once the rains have actually broken, not on a date agreed in January. We lost a cohort planted too late in the season and now confirm the onset on the ground before anything leaves the nursery. If a date moves you get a phone call, not an email.