Reforestation in Ferlo Senegal changes lives

Picture this. You wake up before dawn, you walk for hours across dry, dusty land. You're looking to feed your animals. By the time you find it, the sun is high and you've walked over 40 kilometers. That was life in Ferlo, Senegal, before the Dundi Ferlo project. Four years ago, we started working with communities in this Sahelian region, an area with high desertification risk. Pastoralists, farmers, and collectors were watching their livelihoods disappear as the land dried up. So we built half-moons and ridges to keep water in the soil and we planted native species. We worked with the land, not against it. Now, water stays in the soil, grass and trees are returning. And pastoralists no longer need to walk 40 kilometers to find fodder. Today, it's a simple journey of just 3 to 4 kilometers.