About the project:

The Mecuburi Forest Reserve project is a 230,000-hectare miombo woodland restoration project on government-managed land in Mozambique. In this landscape, Eden works with government and community stakeholders to design and implement complementary conservation, restoration, and agroforestry programs. These programs are changing the trajectory of this degraded protected area and aim to ensure the healthy future of Mecuburi and the communities it supports.

Located in Nampula Province, Mecuburi Forest Reserve is Mozambique's largest miombo woodland forest reserve. Miombo woodland is a tropical dry forest type that represents 10% of Africa’s land cover. Expansion of agriculture threatens forest quality, extent, and connectivity of miombo landscapes across the continent. This degradation jeopardizes the biodiversity of miombo habitats, which host an estimated 8,500 species of plants, over half of which are endemic to this biome. Mecuburi’s current state of degradation is representative of this broader challenge.

Mecuburi Forest Reserve was established in 1950 to protect the watershed of the Mecuburi River and provide resources to the region. The Mecuburi River watershed is one of few entirely contained within Mozambique’s borders. This means that its health and protection are not dependent on neighboring countries’ policies or deforestation trends, but on the actions taken to conserve and restore the watershed within a single jurisdiction. In Mozambique, water has been identified as a key constraint to economic development and poverty reduction. The Mecuburi River is a current and potential water source for upwards of 1 million people, making it a key restoration priority in the broader Nampula provincial landscape.

Additionally, the forest provides a variety of natural, freely available food sources, such as edible mushrooms, which are a staple in the local food supply. Natural food sources are core to climate resilience for rural communities that rely on rain-fed agriculture for subsistence. Due to the high poverty rate in this region, and Mozambique at large, conserving the provisioning ecosystem services in this landscape are critical to the long-term well-being of surrounding communities and the province.

Since the civil war in Mozambique (1977-1992), many forested areas in the country have experienced severe degradation due to uncontrolled fires, charcoal production, and land conversion for agriculture. Mecuburi served as a hiding place for people during the war and continues to experience degradation due to the impact of human activity within its borders. Government estimates show that at least 40%, or 92,000 hectares, of the Reserve have been settled or degraded due to rotational slash-and-burn agriculture during and after the civil war. Additionally, the reserve is estimated to lose 2,165 hectares per year. Although the Reserve has an official zoning plan, it is yet to be enforced and needs to be updated to reflect the reality of Mecuburi today. With a comprehensive, collaboratively built vision for Mecuburi, this landscape will be able to provide essential ecosystem services to this region in the future.

In 2021, Eden began supporting the restoration of a 50,000-hectare portion of the Reserve through Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR), planting and monitoring of nursery-raised seedlings, and agroforestry initiatives. Working closely with the district, provincial government, and local communities in and near the Reserve, Eden is expanding our operations to conserve vital seed sources, add 100,000 additional hectares to our restoration and protection program, and co-create sustainable livelihood opportunities through community-driven agroforestry programs. As we expand our operations, we are working with local partners to develop landscape-specific initiatives to address drivers of deforestation in Mecuburi.

Over the next 15 years, Eden will work directly with stakeholders to reinvent how this landscape is used to the benefit of communities and the environment.

To explore points of interest and learn more about this our current work, click the “News” and “Sites” tab above.

Core activities of this expansion include:

Comprehensive, collaborative landscape planning for the entire Reserve.
Incorporation of an additional 100,000+ hectares of degraded Miombo woodland and gallery forests along the Mecuburi River into our restoration and protection programs
Conservation of inselberg forests outside of the reserve as seed sources, reference sites, and key contributors to forest connectivity within the landscape.
Fire mitigation efforts and agroforestry initiatives to address slash-and-burn agriculture as a core driver of deforestation in the Mecuburi landscape.
Identification of core livelihood initiatives outside of direct employment with Eden.
Preemptive prevention of the invasion of Lantana camara, an invasive shrub.

Stage of Development:

Initial restoration activities have begun and we are expanding our activities within the Reserve. This project is ready to receive funding to support more comprehensive engagement, detailed restoration planning, and the development of supporting initiatives that will sustain the restoration into the future.

Investment needed:

We are seeking an initial investment to fund project development, the early stages of preparation and implementation, and the design of supporting initiatives to address drivers of deforestation and create sustainable livelihood opportunities within this landscape.

Returns on investment:

The primary returns on this investment are social and environmental, including:

A comprehensive, collaboratively developed restoration plan for the largest forest reserve in Mozambique.
Establishing a new precedent for forest reserve management in areas that have been heavily encroached on in recent decades in Mozambique. Mozambique is home to 13 forest reserves, the vast majority of which are degraded.
Millions of indigenous trees produced and monitored over the life of the project
Increased forest connectivity within the landscape
Livelihood opportunities for communities in and adjacent to the Reserve, both through direct employment, seed collection, agroforestry programs, and complementary initiatives defined in later phases of project development
Securing the future of the Mecuburi River, which supplies water to communities within and adjacent to the Reserve
Protection of rapidly disappearing forests in Nampula province. Forests protected in this project are core to successful restoration because they contribute to the genetic diversity of the seed that supports restoration goals.

About Eden Reforestation Projects in Mozambique:

Eden operates over 60 reforestation sites in Mozambique, including mangrove and miombo forest types. For more information, please visit Eden's website edenprojects.org.