To get the project started, the Concern team provided the saplings, technical guidance, alfalfa seeds and cement, and constructed check dams to protect the forest. However this is very much a community effort – Hakim and the villagers prepared the land, planted the saplings, excavated the foundation for the reservoir, provided the gravel and stone and excavated the pipeline for water. As the forest grows, they continue to irrigate the land – assisted by an extra reservoir installed by the Concern team – prune the trees and carry out disease control.
Before, even though many members of the community had land, they had no knowledge of how to best utilize it. Now, everyone who participated in the training sessions has the knowledge of how to grow quality produce to consume or to sell. And no individual person profits from this forest – all of the money goes straight back into the community to build water systems and pumps. At harvest time, the whole community gets together and participates.