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2007 2008
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As of March 2009, GOSESO has achieved the following:
• Completion of Phase I (Feasibility Study and Partnership Building) and Phase II (School without Walls) objectives.
• The kickoff of construction of a residential school (School within Walls). For a small number of visitors and volunteers, GOSESO can provide a beautiful guest house and campsite.
• Near completion of the final campus design based on traditional Tanzanian architecture; the final plan will include an African campfire style of multiple courtyards linked with indigenous trees.
• “Conservation Agriculture” through the operation of 5-acre agricultural demonstration farm. Our farm is an interactive educational tool and field laboratory that teaches local farmers more environmentally and economically sustainable practices. It also trains our agricultural specialists for future village outreach duties, providing them with the knowledge and experience that will enable them to become extension educators.
• Establishment of a nursery using plant propagation and seed collection to grow saplings and seedlings. In 2007, we planted 20,000 saplings and seedlings throughout the forest. To date, as many as 110,000 trees and saplings have been planted inside Kitobe and in the surrounding villages through community outreach, as well as randomly reseeding sensitive areas of the Kitobe Forest.
• Creation and operation of the School Tree Nursery Program. GOSESO scientists and conservation team help local public schools establish and maintain plant nurseries on the school grounds.
• Development of community-based protection and enhancement measures for the Kitobe Forest.
o 16 forest rangers are employed and actively work to prevent burning, hunting, and deforestation.
o Our nursery has produced seedlings from over a dozen native tree species, which have been planted within the Kitobe Forest by our conservation experts.
o The beekeeping project has provided essential pollination and honey production to the local economy.
o The habitat for Olive Baboons and Vervet Monkeys in the Kitobe Forest has undergone improvement measures.
o Through our educational and nursery programs we have increased and improved wildlife habitat in the lands immediately adjacent to Gombe Stream National Park.
o As a result of our conservation efforts, dozens of species of birds, mammals, and reptiles have already migrated into the Kitobe Forest.
o Partnership with twenty local villages near Kitobe Forest has helped us develop protocols and strategies that blend habitat improvement with the provision of sustainable economic opportunities for local villagers.