save nature
our work
Green Loop
programmes -
We organise environmental conservation programmes to involve youth in conservation activities,organising workshops,
conferences and seminars to sensitize more about their need to conserve and protect the environment. We also provide training programmes for self sustaining skills to create proper economical options for youth communities that will hinder them from going back to destroying activities such as encroaching wetlands, brick laying and charcoal burning.
Restoring Endangered Tree Species
The degradation and loss of forests across Eastern Africa is a major problem impacting on ecological stability and livelihoods. Tackling this problem requires a combination of approaches including improved management of production forests, strengthening protected areas and restoring native forests using indigenous species. We are developing and promoting the work of tree conservation and forest restoration through enhancing tree conservation and forest restoration in East Africa. We are continuing to engage youth and local communities in restoring endangered tree species such as Africana mahogany, Africana redwood, Mpingo, Prunus Africana and others.
Major Focus in Restoring Endangered Tree species
Botanical Name: Khaya anthotheca
Other Names: Ugandan Mahogany, Munyama, Kirumbo
Family: Meliaceae
Natural Range: Throughout sub-Saharan Africa
IUCN Conservation Status
Vulnerable (VU)
Khaya anthotheca is a large deciduous tree capable of growing up to 50m in height often with buttress roots. On older trees the bark is fairly smooth, grey to brown and flakes off in round scales. The leaves are compound and reddish when young, turning green with age. Flowers appear as branched clusters, white and sweetly scented, the fruit is a spherical woody capsule revealing winged seeds.
This tree is native to tropical Africa from Sierra Leone eastwards to Uganda and Tanzania and southwards to Angola, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. Within its native range it occurs in riverine, groundwater, lowland and lower montane forests from 0 to 1500m.
This species provides one of the most important timber woods in Africa. The timber is moderately strong and quite light; it is easily worked and polishes well to give attractively coloured finished products. It is an excellent wood for decorative furniture, veneers, panels and plywood. As a result, the species is heavily exploited in East and West Africa for its valuable wood.
The bark and roots of K. anthoteca are also used medicinally to treat colds and coughs.
Regeneration is poor in places where parent trees are scarce and serious genetic erosion is thought to have occurred. Some sub-populations of this species have been protected and log export bans and felling limits have been put in place in various countries.
Botanical Name: Hagenia abyssinica
Other Names: East African Redwood, Kosso
Family: Rosaceae
Natural Range: Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia and Malawi
IUCN Conservation Status
Not Evaluated (NE)
Hagenia abyssinica is a highly ornamental tree species with an umbrella shaped crown, and large attractive flowers. Trees are either male or female, with male flowers an orange to brown or white colour and red female flowers. The flower heads form large hanging groups, made up of many small flowers. The colour of the flowers actually comes from modified leaves called bracts rather than true petals. The fruits are small and dried, hidden within the dried part of the flower.
This species grows up to 25 m in height. The leaves are pinnately compound reaching lengths of 40 cm; with 11-16 hairy, dark green, slightly serrated leaflets. The bark is reddish brown and often peels from the tree trunk and branches.
Hagenia abyssinica has been used for centuries in Ethiopia and has great local importance. It is used locally for its medicinal properties; an infusion of dried female flowers is used to treat tapeworm, the roots are cooked with meat to make a soup for treating general illness and malaria and the bark can be used to treat diarrhoea and stomach ache.
The wood is a beautiful dark red making it a popular timber species for furniture, floors and cabinets. Timber is also collected for fuelwood.
Hagenia abyssinica is endemic to the Afromontane regions of central and eastern Africa. Despite Hagenia abyssinica being widely distributed, its range is scattered with disjunct populations. Hagenia abyssinica occurs mostly in the upper regions of montane forests, at 2,300 – 3,300 m a.s.l, often just below the tree line. This species prefers cool, wet climates such as those found in moist montane forests, and can also thrive on rocky sites.
Botanical Name: Dalbergia melanoxylon
Other Names: African blackwood, Babanus, Grenadilla, Mozambique ebony, Mufunjo, Mugembe, Mukelete
Family: Fabaceae
Natural Range: Throughout sub-Saharan Africa
Dalbergia melanoxylon
Other Names: African blackwood, Babanus, Grenadilla, Mozambique ebony, Mufunjo, Mugembe, Mukelete
Family: Fabaceae
Natural Range: Throughout sub-Saharan Africa
IUCN Conservation Status
Near Threatened (NT)
Mpingo is a small, gnarled, heavily branched tree that grows extremely slowly, not reaching harvestable age for between 70 and 100 years. It grows under a wide range of environmental conditions and is native to 26 African countries. It ranges from Ethiopia in the north to Angola in the south, and spreads from Senegal in the west across to Tanzania in the east.
Mpingo is an important component of many ecosystems, including the open miombo woodland that covers two thirds of Tanzania. It is a nitrogen fixing species that improves soil fertility and is also good at maintaining soil stability. Mature trees have the ability to survive fires that sweep through grasslands destroying other vegetation.
The dark heartwood of mpingo, which gives it its western name of African blackwood, is one of the most economically valuable timbers in the world. It has exceptional mechanical properties that make it perfect for carving and it has a beautiful finish. It is used for carving intricate ornaments in Tanzania.
A variety of ailments are treated locally with medicines made from different parts of the tree. In some areas, the wood is boiled to produce a broth that is used to bathe newborn babies, which is believed to impart strength. The leaves, bark and pods can all be used as animal fodder and the heart and sapwood can be burnt as high-energy fuel, or made into charcoal.
Botanical Name: Prunus africana
Other Names: African Cherry, Mueri, Ntasesa, Gyabazito, Ngwabuzito, Chiramat, Chirumandi, Gulumati, Gumwirumari,
Family: Rosaceae
Natural Range: Montane Tropical and Southern Africa and Madagascar
IUCN Conservation Status
Vulnerable (VU)
Prunus africana is a large, straight, evergreen tree often growing to around 20 m in height and occasionally with buttressed roots. Despite a wide natural range, spanning across Africa, this species is over exploited as it is highly sought-after for its medicinal uses, which has led to its threatened status.
The bark of P. africana is green to grey on young trees becoming almost black and flaking raggedly on older trees. Leaves are elliptic, simple, leathery and green, often with reddish petioles. Flowers are arranged in clusters with very small petals, woolly margins and multiple stamens. The fruit is a drupe, red to dark brown when ripe, containing 1 or 2 oval seeds.
The biggest threat to this species is the overharvesting of its bark and leaves for their medicinal properties. The bark of this tree yields a valuable medicinal product used to manufacture treatments for benign prostatic hyperplasia sold internationally. The drug made from the bark extract was patented in 1966. The bark is harvested in the largest quantity of any tree species and this has lead to international concerns about sustainability. The world market is robust and projected to increase. Retail value of P. africana products is estimated at over USD 200 million annually, and is possibly considerably more.
Botanical Name: Gigasiphon macrosiphon
Family: Leguminosae
Natural Range: Kenya and Tanzania
IUCN Conservation Status
Critically Endangered (CR)
Found in moist coastal forest of Kenya and Tanzania, this tree can grows between 12-20m tall. This tree was once feared extinct until 1990 when the tree was rediscovered.
This species has high ornamental value because of its huge white flowers, although it is not well represented in ex situ collections (only 7 collections worldwide). The flowers can span 8 inches and allow the tree to be considered good for bee populations. The timber of this tree is used to make poles and tools.
Although assessed as Endangered on the IUCN website, a more recent assessment by the East African Plant Red List Authority lists this tree as Critically Endangered. This tree is threated by the destruction of its habitat for the expansion of agriculture and mineral extraction.
Botanical Name: Karomia gigas
Other Names: N/A
Family: Lamiaceae
Natural Range: Tanzania
IUCN Conservation Status
Critically Endangered (CR)
Karomia gigas is one of the world’s rarest trees. It is now only known to exist in south-eastern Tanzania, but previously also grew within Kenya. The species is believed to be extinct in Kenya as the last known specimen was cut down in the 1970’s.
Until 2012 the species was also thought to be extinct within Tanzania but in this year botanists from the University of Dar es Salaam rediscovered the species, 28 km away from a previous collection site. A second site of the species was found in 2017. Across both locations fewer than 20 individuals of Karomia gigas exist and consequently the species is assessed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List.
Karomia gigas is a tall tree that produces large, oval, papery seeds. Overall, little is known about the species. It is suspected that a decline in its native habitat, as forest was converted to agricultural land, caused its population to decline. Conversion of forest remains a threat to this species. Historical decline in the species is also potentially caused by wood cutting for fuel and timber. Logging still occurs locally and is a continuing threat to the species.
Climate Mitigation & Adaption
Our climate action Programs have often fallen into one of two strategies: mitigation efforts to lower or remove greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere, and adaption efforts to adjust systems and youth societies to withstand the impacts of climate change. We discovered that it is not always possible or practical to work solely on actions that are both adaptive and mitigating. Nor are these actions a silver bullet to solving the climate crisis. That’s why we have been cooperating and partnering with various climate based organizations. Below are five solution Programs that we are working on to curb climate change and help us cope with its impacts at the same time:
1. Advocating for Conservation and Protection of Swamps & Wetlands
Swamps & wetlands are unique in our ecosystems because they serve as natural water filtration systems and marine habitats. They defend shore against water level rise by buffering storm surges and floodwaters, and store tons of carbon in their roots and soils. Mangrove forests currently hold the equivalent of more than two years of global emissions, which would be released into the atmosphere and worsen the effects of climate change if these forests are destroyed.
If we increase the conservation and protection Swamps & wetlands recovering about 44% of the ecosystem’s global coverage by 2050 we could mitigate one gigaton of CO2 per year — over three years of emissions. However efforts to Conserve and protect Swamps & wetlands must include engaging youth in local communities that rely on these ecosystems for their homes and livelihoods in the above activities.
2. Promoting the Benefits of Sustainable Agroforestry
Amidst land use changes from forestry and agriculture accounting for nearly 25% of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, it’s clear that current land management schemes need to change. Agroforestry practices integrate diverse trees or shrubs with crops and livestock. In particular, pastures with trees can sequester five to 10 times more carbon than treeless areas of the same size. We also encourage farmers to be more productive by growing crops and raising livestock simultaneously using significantly less land. Diversifying crops and including livestock on these lands can give them additional sources of income and reduce the risks to livelihoods caused by climate change and unpredictable weather.
3. Advocating for Clean Energy Distribution
Climate variability has negatively electricity transmission and distribution infrastructure. At the same time, development and population growth are increasing energy demand and usage. Centralized energy systems — with large power plants and infrastructure connected over long distances — are more vulnerable to climate change since disruptions at one point in the system can affect the entire network.
Decentralized systems — often powered by renewable energy, with shorter transmission lines and smaller distribution areas — are more climate-resilient. In the event of a disaster, a community with its own decentralized energy supply isn’t affected by power outages in other areas. Smaller, more manageable power sources can also recover from disasters more rapidly. Low-carbon technologies such as solar panels and batteries can also provide reliable, clean energy to critical services, like Schools and hospitals in remote areas that aren’t already connected to the grid or experience frequent power outages.
4. Advocating for Mass Transit
Swamps & wetlands are unique in our ecosystems because they serve as natural water filtration systems and marine habitats. They defend shore against water level rise by buffering storm surges and floodwaters, and store tons of carbon in their roots and soils. Mangrove forests currently hold the equivalent of more than two years of global emissions, which would be released into the atmosphere and worsen the effects of climate change if these forests are destroyed.
If we increase the conservation and protection Swamps & wetlands recovering about 44% of the ecosystem’s global coverage by 2050 we could mitigate one gigaton of CO2 per year — over three years of emissions. However efforts to Conserve and protect Swamps & wetlands must include engaging youth in local communities that rely on these ecosystems for their homes and livelihoods in the above activities.
Ecological Conservation
Environmental conservation is a responsibility of the whole society and an obligation of every citizen, it must be conducted consistently on basis of clear accountability of all stakeholders. Green Loop believes in involving the young population in environmental conservation activities with an aim of developing a culture of environmental conservation among them. Environmental conservation is vital to us all and the strategies used are indispensable components of socio – economic development. It must facilitate sustainable development to meet the demands of current generations while preserving potentials and opportunities for future generations. As the organization we believe that an investment in environmental conservation is an investment to sustainable development.
Forests play the vital role for the environmental conservation. We have launched various programmes for the conservation of forests, Environment in the hands of the youth is one of our popular programmes which has been used to protect land, water and other components of environment. We involve young people in our afforestation programmes with an aim of creating more awareness about their need to conserve and protect the environment.
We have continued to launch various projects aimed at empowering youth communities with proper waste management skills that enables them earn a living while they are manage waste in their communities. Among our ongoing project is the turning waste materials into biogas, turning plastic into tiles, and turning plastic into diesel. We believe that with proper training our communities will be able to adopt better practices and minimize the use of plastic in their day-to-day activities.
This is an important work in environmental conservation, As we continue to advocate for the control of Land slides, floods and soil erosion in the mountainous areas of Uganda we are also emphasizing tree plantation, agro forestry and minimizing the use of chemicals in agricultural practices. We also believe that there is a need to empower our people with hands on skills on how to boost soil fertility with organic methods.
PROGRAMMES
1. Supporting social groups and individuals to acquire a set of values for environmental protection and providing every person with opportunities to acquire the knowledge values, attitude, commitment and skills needed to conserve and protect the environment.
2. Providing skills that helps the concerned individuals in identifying and solving environment problems to protect and enhance forest cover and the national heritage in Agroforestry.
3. Creating awareness about environment problems among people, encouraging afforestation and the restoration of degraded land in the wider countryside.
4. Support various efforts in designing, dissemination and implementation of education and training programs and materials (with and for communities) regarding community education and support which can be used by the local communities as a tool for mobilization towards better development and living standard.
5. Conducting research and disseminating research findings on climate change
Contact Us
Telphone
+256700282220
info@grnloop.org grnloop@gmail.com
Box Number
P.O BOX 11574 Kampala, Uganda, East - Africa
Address
BLOCK:44 PLOT:1473 Kisugu, Makindye division, Kampala District Uganda - East Africa
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