The Botou forest spreads over 12,000 hectares to the northeast of Tambacounda. But it’s not a place of towering trees and dense canopy; years of illegal logging have diminished its tree cover and crippled its ecosystem.

Le Korsa is working to change that.

Since 2018, we have been partnering with Senegal’s forestry service, which manages the forest, and a group of dedicated locals to replant a five-hectare parcel of land at Botou. The goal is to revive and preserve biodiversity by planting trees native to the region and helping to restore a healthy ecosystem of flora and fauna.

To date, we have planted over 2000 trees in the forest, primarily species that have become rare: the cordyla pinnata, known as dimb in Wolof; Pterocarpus erinaceus, or wenn, as it’s called locally; and Afzelia Africana, or linké. Other tree species include moringa oleifera and acacia occidentale. All of these tree saplings are grown from seed in our tree nursery in Tambacounda, which is run by Tambacounda office director Massamba Camara.

But to ensure these native trees survive, we have to protect them from the full range of threats to the forest, which are not limited to logging. Bush fires, grazing animals, wood charcoal production, and the illegal extraction of laterite also decimate its ecosystem. Installing a solid fence around the parcel became essential, as did creating a firebreak.

The most important part of all, however, are our local partners, who live in the nearby village of Botou and water the trees, maintain the fencing, and steward the land. Led by village elder Père Moussa, the team of ten includes a former shepherd and a young man named Daniel, who has worked with Massamba since 2019 to create green spaces in Tambacounda. Together, the team can water the full expanse of the Le Korsa site in four hours, distributing 2000 liters of water to the trees in the process.

Because of the forest’s rural location, water was initially trucked in by the forestry service to fill reservoirs located within Le Korsa’s parcel. But as the site’s trees grew and required more irrigation, that approach became untenable. In 2023, we were given permission to dig a well and install spigots for refilling the reservoirs, which has made watering more efficient. Each year, we calculate how many trees to plant based on the available water, ensuring we don’t diminish the water table. We make sure there’s plenty for the birds, too, which are returning more and more to the young trees, and drinking from miniature basins the team has crafted from old tires.

While the full restoration of the forest is many years away, there is a lot of good happening right now. This year, Père Moussa and his team experimented with cutting all the grass throughout the site and creating a huge compost pile that they’ll use to nourish the trees. And Massamba is working with them and the forestry service to start a GIE, or economic association, so the team can make and sell honey, herbal teas, and other products that might come from the forest as it grows.

When I ask Père Moussa if the Le Korsa parcel is the most active in the Botou forest, his response is swift. “Without a doubt,” he says.