Our forests as assets: Multi-dimensional use and management while providing diversified interests

Over the past 5 years, Perfect Village Communities (PVC Burundi) has engaged young people in land restoration programs in rural areas of Burundi.

Our activities are not solely oriented on the productivity from the nurseries, but rather on holistic approaches to degraded land restoration.

We focus on the empowerment of local communities to recognise and understand the opportunities attached to their way of life which enable them to initiate and take ownership of other restoration programs.

Discover the story of this young Girl:

“I am Dorine, I live in rural Burundi where I was born. I was motivated to take part in the activities of PVC Burundi, more particularly, in the preparation of the plant nurseries. To reward my time, PVC Burundi offers me financial compensation, training and a sense of community with a collective goal. As I had no other occupations, this has changed my life and my vision of our way of life.

I participated in several tree nursery preparation activities taking care of plants such as Calliandra or Neem, and several other species whose names I did not know. At the beginning, my motivation was mainly the income that I received in exchange for my contribution to the campaigns of distribution and planting of the plants that I had grown in the nursery. I was not interested in taking a few plants for myself, until I became aware that I needed several species of different plants in my mother's forests and farmland.

Thanks to PVC Burundi, I received several training sessions in which I learned the virtues of a tree which I did not know and had never heard of. It is Neem, which can treat humans and animals against many health problems. Since then, I went to ask for 5 plants of this species, but unfortunately, there were not many in the nurseries of PVC Burundi, due to the high demand by other people at the same time.

Since that time, I finally understood the need to plant the species distributed by PVC Burundi. I started by planting Calliandra and Neem species in my small field, and then I received rabbits as a social investment in the form of credit. You cannot imagine how much this has changed my life. I feed my rabbits with Calliandra leaves, and I care for my rabbits with Neem derivatives as preventive and curative treatment. The Neem grew very quickly, in 3 months I was able to see the benefits. Now I no longer need to buy pharmaceutical products which used to be very costly.

You can participate by supporting our community engagement initiatives in sustainable forest management, for the restoration of biodiversity, better health of local people and animals, but also in order to restore local economies.

Investing to save our planet while restoring the local communities´s economies.

Join us today