Africa’s forest restoration project is back on track

Abbas Athman in his butterfly farm bordering Arabuko-Sokoke forest in Kilifi. [Caroline Chebet]

Growing up in a village in Burkina Faso, Georges Bazongo remembers his parents and neighbours cutting down trees each year to expand their farmland so they could “grow enough food for our families to eat”.

He also noticed some trees becoming drier in the drought-prone region, an indication too that the soil was deteriorating as heavy rains washed away its fertile layer.