Grove monitoring & data collection restarts amid pandemic

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It's been a crazy month of climate news - the fires in California (where the Wren team is based) were unbelievable to watch. We're all OK, but this fire season serves as a reminder of the urgency of the climate crisis. Thank you for your support - the tree planting you're funding keeps me hopeful and reminds me of all the solutions we have to the climate crisis!

The Community Tree Planting project continues to adapt to COVID-19, and at this point has most of their tree monitoring back to pre-pandemic levels. All monitors are provided "COVID-19 Assistance Packs" containing masks and hand sanitizer.

Natukunda Jannester, a monitor employed by the project, measures the diameter of tree trunks and takes photos of trees to keep track of how much CO2 is being sequestered. Monitoring paused during the early stages of the pandemic, but is now back to normal.

With monitoring and data collection up and running again, we wanted to take some time this update to share how monitors do their job, and where you can view the collected data on Wren.

How monitors ensure trees are healthy and sequestering carbon

Monitors are vital to the success of the project, since farmers are paid not for planting seedlings, but nurturing trees into adulthood and in perpetuity. Data collected by monitors in the field are used to determine the health and growth of every grove of trees, which is used to determine how many carbon credits can be sold and how much income farmers will receive.

The process for collecting tree data is simple: monitors visit the groves in person, measuring tree diameters, inspecting the trees for disease, and cataloguing what types of trees are being planted where. All of this data is uploaded to a database from mobile devices, and is made publicly available. Visit the project page for Community Tree Planting on Wren to view the most recent audited grove data! The section looks like this:

Wren serves the latest grove data from Community Tree Planting, including tree species, count, and images taken from the field by monitors!

Although monitors are back at work, coronavirus is still spreading in East Africa so farmers are staying put as much as they can. That means plenty of time to plant more trees and tend to gardens! 🌳

Here are some more photos taken this month:

A Community Tree Planting farmer takes care of seedlings in the Hamurwa Cluster Nursery in Uganda.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, farmers have been busy nurturing trees and planting gardens.⁠ Francis Kibe, a Community Tree Planting Kenya Leader, is pictured here with his wife and son tending to their garden.⁠

That's it for this update! Want to help Community Tree Planting plant more trees? Share this update with friends and family. The #1 way we grow our impact is through supporters like you 🧡

- The Wren Team

Mimi, Landon, Ben, and Taylor