In the month of October, DSWT Community outreach in conjunction with the bee farmers continued with thorough hive maintenance in the 3 main villages where DSWT has erected the bee fence. Hive maintenance is essential for making beekeeping life easy and will hopefully result in healthier bee colonies as well as providing enough space for larger colonies. Maintaining your hives will ultimately facilitate more occupation leading to more honey flow whenever the season becomes favorable. During the month at least 130 hives were inspected of prevailing diseases and invading woodlice, cleaned and well set ready for new occupations.
The DSWT continued to offer tree saplings to community members especially in the Mtito region. Community lands have been mapped out for reforestation efforts by the counties. Among the trees said to do well in this ecosystem are the Neem tree and the Melia which have been donated annually by the DSWT. This year 500 neem saplings were donated in the month of October.
This month the DSWT also launched a new project aimed at inspiring school children to start planting trees early. The two-pronged approach involved a large-scale seed-balling initiative in Chyulu Hills National Park (CHNP) and a tree planting competition involving 731 school children from 4 different schools also bordering CHNP. The project was made possible by the sale of carbon credits by the Chyulu Hills Conservation Trust, which is a partnership between DSWT and several other stakeholders in the Chyulu Hills, committed to protecting this incredible ecosystem.