Transforming Sierra Leone’s Landscape: A Community Tree Planting Event Powered by Mobile App Geotagging
A blog by Sheikh Mohamed Alpha Janneh II, a Frontier Tech Hub Implementing Partner.
Explore learnings from Project Sapling’s recent planting event.
Despite administrative delays due to Sierra Leone’s upcoming general election and the start of the rainy season, Crown Agents and Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary (TCS) — together with representatives from the Sierra Leone Ministry of Environment and our UAV partner, UAVAid — travelled from Freetown to Mansonia, a forest-edge community located within the buffer zone of the Loma Mountains National Park.
The trip signalled the first sapling planting event on May 25, 2023, to test the use of our beta version mobile application to geotag each tree at the time of planting. Geotagging has emerged as a powerful tool in the realm of environmental conservation, particularly when it comes to the planting of trees. By utilizing geotagging technology, we can precisely track and document the location of each tree that is planted, creating a comprehensive and accurate record of reforestation efforts.
Figure 1. Saplings at a Mansonia nursery site before the planting event
The mobile application collects data on the initial record of each sapling planted, containing information on: the tree species planted, the date planted, and most importantly geographical coordinates of where each sapling was planted into the ground. To read more details on the development of the technology, please see UAVAid’s blog post.
A key objective of this pilot, Project Sapling, is to determine whether drones can be used to monitor, report, and verify the survival of trees. The goal is to increase transparency and improve investor confidence in the voluntary carbon market for community reforestation projects. The planting coordinates enabled us to match the sapling with the drone data and later determine each individual tree’s survival rate.
Following a trip to Mansonia in March 2023 to determine the community’s data literacy and the general parameters needed to consider in designing the mobile application, findings were shared with UAVAid to support the development of the mobile application to be used for the upcoming Sapling planting event in May 2023.
This blog explores the recent planting event in Mansonia which set out to determine the community’s ability to use UAVaid’s mobile application technology and test if communities can be integrated successfully into a reforestation model that utilizes the bespoke technology. This event also set out to test if communities could be incentivized to be actively involved in the process of seed collection, nursery set up, and maintenance through to planting at the designated planting site, to support the development of a community-integrated replicable reforestation methodology to be used for future scaling up of a tech-centred reforestation model.
Figure 2. Saplings with the QR codes at the nursery site. Community members will use the app to scan the QR code to geotag each tree and collect basic planting data
Community members bought into the planning and design process of the reforestation project
Prior to the planting event, within this sprint we had set out to determine if we could successfully undertake a critical early step within a reforestation program, which is to work with community members to nurse saplings from seed to be used at the May 25 planting event. The result — 1,000 seeds had germinated and were ready for the planting event, just half of our expected experiment count, therefore TCS and the community made the decision to prepare pre-grown saplings (cuttings) to use on the planting event and bring our test numbers back up to the required 2000. TCS are long-term partners of the Mansonia community, working with the community and developing a good relationship, allowing for a collaborative approach to the reforestation plan. TCS worked with the community members in finalizing the reforestation plan to foster buy-in on the final selection of tree species; active involvement in the seed collection; and nursery identification, set up and maintenance supported by a suitable payment mechanism (paid per day worked). The sprint benefited from the community members local knowledge of tree species, whom were actively involved in the choice of four tree species used based on suitability (i.e non-timber), availability, growth and survival rate. Whilst these were the focus areas for tree species selection in the first planting exercise, moving forward sequestration capacity should be explored to identify a selection of specific tree species that maximize carbon absorption and storage potential, enhancing the overall effectiveness of carbon offset, to link to the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM). The successful completion of all these preparatory steps in advance of the planting indicates that the community members are incentivized and were bought into the planning and design process of the reforestation project. We have learned that the Mansonia community members are willing to actively be involved in the methodology.
Community members at the heart of the tree planting event, The Mansonia Community
On the day of the planting event, UAVAid provided training to both the Community Team Leaders and TCS staff leading the planting event on technology. Unfortunately, due to time restrictions, TCS was unable to conduct the planned iterative tests with the Mansonia Community members well in advance of the tree-planting event to determine the suitability and functionality of the app. Therefore, the mobile app was first introduced and tested with the community on the actual day of planting. Community usage of the app is an area we will look to revisit during the anticipated November planting event. It was also the intention that training TCS staff would facilitate scaling up the use of the technology for future community reforestation activities without requiring UAVAid to travel from the UK to Sierra Leone for each planting event.
Figure 3. Taking a photo of the QR code to link to the mobile app at the planting site
Training included how to print out and affix a QR code to each sapling in the nursery, and how to use the mobile application to scan the QR code in the planting field and enter in the required information. The Team Leaders then cascaded this training down to the team members. In addition to community members who came to support with transporting the saplings from the nursery to the field, there were four teams, which consisted of between 12–15 community members (male and female) and four TCS staff with the objective being to plant 2,039 saplings into an earlier-identified planting site. Team members had roles assigned to ensure a clear division of labor, the roles per team consisted of:
Overseeing and measuring the distance between the trees planted
Planting and tagging the trees
Recording the information on the mobile application
Supporting demarcation, digging, and transportation from the nursery to the planting site.
Each team had at least one woman, who took turns to plant and use the technology. Observations and a post-planting survey show that women community workers took to the technology/mobile phones and tagging activities easily and were enthused about the planting of the saplings. It is important to highlight this finding because the sprint 1 data literacy test observed that female tree planters could find it harder to integrate and use the smartphone technology provided.
Initially, team sizes were intended to consist of three individuals. However, team sizes were increased for several reasons. Firstly, heavy rain forecasts in the late afternoon and evening meant that having extra team members ensured the Saplings could be in the ground prior to rainfall. Secondly, demarcation and digging were not able to be completed prior to the planting event as planned due to administrative delays. The additional person power was utilized as additional runners, transporting saplings from the nursing sites to the planting site, supporting digging and demarcation, planting to increase production speed, and providing additional support across all planting activities. Thinking forward to the second planting event planned for November 2023, we will set out to re-test if the original team size of three teams of three is suitable for the planting of 2,000 trees in one day, this time improving on pre-planting coordination and preparation with the community members.
Growth through experience: Valuable lessons that will shape our understanding and methodology
Overall, the community members successfully used the technology to collect data on each tree planted, which supports our theory that community integration with the technology will support drone monitoring via tree data collected at the time of planting. Communities with no education in wildlife conservation and no education are successfully handling technology and collecting data to support the reforestation project, a premium example of how communities have shown buy-in and integration to high-tech/low-tech methodology.
After the planting event, we asked TCS staff and community members about their experience receiving the training and using the mobile applications, via verbal conversations and surveys conducted. The community members noted that they found both the mobile application and its purpose easy to understand and use appropriately for the required task, and the roles and responsibilities for each team member were clear, this was validated via observation from TCS and UAVAid on-site and the post-planting questionnaire answers provided. However, they reported that due to the climate and weather of Sierra Leone, extended periods of bright sunlight caused the mobile phones to overheat which would need to be resolved. Also, community members recommended providing better field-fitted phone covers as the risk of dropping the phone and damaging them while walking through vegetated terrain is high.
Similarly, TCS staff members found the app and the tags relatively easy to use but noted that more time was required for the planting event. The initial plan was to conduct a two-step training process where UAVAid would provide TCS staff with a training of trainers (TOT) training session on the mobile application, and then TCS would provide the follow-on training directly to the Mansonia community members in advance of the planting event. However, due to a lack of time on the day, UAVAid gave a single training to both TCS and the community members supporting the planting event. When it comes to scaling up the project, it raises the following questions which can be tested in a later sprint in line with the next planned planting event in November 2023:
How would TCS staff provide the app training without UAVAid present?
Would community members be able to retain the information as effectively if the training was provided in advance of the planting event (and how far in advance?)?
What is the ideal planting event size to ensure an appropriate ratio of planting teams to TCS staff members to support any app troubleshooting?
Additionally, more time would have allowed for the tree planting logistics to have been mapped out in accordance with TCS protocols on staking and providing marks for the community members to plant in an organized fashion, which would have sped up the planting process. TCS protocols were actioned by the community members on the day of planting, following the instructions from TCS and UAVaid but it did not give the community an opportunity to lead on the task, which would have increased ownership and investment. Therefore, the opportunity for the community members to have a leading role and a sense of ownership at the planting event can be tested again at the planned planting event in November.
Environmental Stewardship: The Ministry of Environment’s Endorsement of Our Project
The project team was honoured to have in attendance representatives from the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, including representatives from within the National Protected Area Authority that oversees the Loma Mountains Conservation area. The Ministry was impressed by the community’s willingness to engage in potential carbon market reforestation activities and the use of the technology. They offered a reminder of the common threats present in Sierra Leone when it comes to reforestation efforts, such as wildfires and cattle. The former will be mitigated against soon as Sierra Leone is currently entering its rainy season and the latter which will be addressed in the coming weeks by supporting the community with fencing around the planting site.
Figure 4. The planting site, which is an example of degraded lands that can be found across Sierra Leone and are an opportunity to collaborate with communities to reforest
The Ministry saw the benefits of using technology to support meeting the Government’s goal to plant five million trees by 2023.
“With the successful implementation of this project, reforestation will be given the consideration it deserves; and will provide alternative livelihood options for the communities that are reforested and incentives for looking after and protecting the forests,” John Brima, Assistant Director of Research, Ministry of Environment and Climate Change.
Next Steps
We are currently awaiting the analysis of how successfully each record was created and stored within the database. The next sprint of the pilot will:
Provide analysis and a clear understanding of whether there were any user error-related challenges to which we can design a mitigation strategy and incorporate improvements on app training and usage at the project’s second planting event.
Continue to develop and test the community-integrated approach by utilizing community forestry and bio-monitors as an effective mechanism to care for the sapling trees planted against potential negative impacts to ensure a high survival rate.
If you’d like to dig in further…
📚 Read about the drone’s first test and the top five learning points — “Drone Mapping UK Cornwall On The Way To Africa”
📚 Learn about the pilot’s efforts in determining data literacy —“Determining Digital Literacy for Reforestation in the Mansonia Community, Sierra Leone”
📚 Explore learnings from the pilot’s field trial — “Investing In New Forests ? — How to prove trees have actually been planted.”
