Overview of Social and Environmental Issues
Extensive deforestation occurs in Tanzania with 3,500 square kilometers of forested land lost every year. The deforestation on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro has allowed for the hot air from the Serengeti Plain to reach the summit and accelerate the melting of its glaciers. Additionally, overgrazing by livestock causes desertification in Northern and Central Tanzania.

The presence of large NGO’s in Tanzania for many years has caused the misconception that all NGO’s are well funded, causing local NGO’s and CBO’s to hold unrealistic expectations of what Trees for the Future can provide. Most Tanzanians are uninterested in planting trees, except for pine or eucalyptus trees. Many Tanzanians are not interested in working in groups because of past government policies forcing group cooperation.

Our Response
The Tanzania program began in 2008. The Tanzania Program works with a very diverse group of partner organizations that focus on a wide range of objectives, including local tree planting projects that provide fuel wood to women, large scale alternative energy tree planting projects, and local NGO's that are committed to providing tree seedlings to as many communities as possible. So far, Trees for the Future has distributed 600,000 tree seeds.

May 2010
The Trees for the Future Tanzania Program has added several new partnering organizations this year with which to establish tree nurseries and educate small-holder farmers on the importance of adopting agroforestry techniques. The Tanzania Program distributed approximately 400,000 tree seeds in the first trimester of 2010 and are poised to plant about 1,000,000 trees in Tanzania this year. Trees for the Future has provided seeds and helped establish nurseries with Reaching Hearts for Kids in Namanga, Forest Gardener Group in Tabora, Integrated and Sustainable Human Initiatives (ISHI) in Muleba, Bioland Administration in Same, Kamachuma Environmental Care Association in Musoma, Trees for Tanzania in Kigoma, and Save Tanzanian Forests in Dar es Salaam.

December 2009
The Tanzania Program Continues to expand rapidly. We have added several more partnering organizations, most notably Kasulu Youth Development (KAYD) in Kigoma Region and the West Victoria Development Agency (WEVIDA) in Bukoba Region in Western Tanzania. The Tanzania Program has also increased its cooperation with Peace Corps and is working with about 20 Peace Corps Volunteers throughout the country by providing seeds and training materials.

The Tanzania Program has also deepened its connections with our partnering organizations. With the MPDO Project in Arusha Region, Trees for the Future provided funding so that representatives from 8 villages were able to participate in a nursery and agroforestry workshop. The Ngara Jatropha Fondation in Bukoba Region is busy distributing hundreds of thousands of Jatropha seedlings as well as other species of trees throughout Ngara District, thanks to our partnership. Trees for the Future along with our partner organizations are projecting to have 800,000 trees planted by year’s end.

April 2009
The First Trimester for 2009 has seen considerable progress for the Tanzania Program. There has been an increasing interest on the parts of local NGO's and Community-Based Organizations (CBO's) to participate with Trees for the Future projects in Tanzania. We are continuously receiving new requests for partnerships and seeds from regions throughout Tanzania, which demonstrates how much interest there is in tree planting project by organizations and institutions. As the year unfolds, we anticipate planting over 750,000 trees in Tanzania in 2009.