These two livelihood stories show how tree planting is not for everyone for a variety of reasons. The project aims to create awareness, facilitate capacity and mentor families but ultimately the decision to participate is their choice…
Natercia Soares, Manelima
Natericia has five people in her family (1 male, 4 female). Her husband is an electrician. They have 2 hectares of land and their own house. They grow taro, cassava, banana, and coffee. Livestock include chickens, 2 pigs and 2 goats. They dont use any communal land. Natericia had heard about the tree planting program because some extended family members are involved. “If you have land, you can plant trees”. She saw the brochure but did not express interest because she has many activities to do at home. However, if she had more time, she would like to plant Mahogany, Teak, Casuarina, Pineapple, and Lemon. Her aim is to send children to school. ” I must work hard to sell coffee and palm wine.”
Dircia Pereira de Jesus, Manelima
Dircia has four family members (3 male, 1 female). She works as a cook at the primary school. Her father was a teacher in Soibada and now teaches at Laclubar secondary school. They have a large area of land in Soibada (her family land) where they grow banana, taro, cassava and small coffee trees. They also have 2ha of empty land belonging to her husbands family. They dont keep livestock other than chickens. Dircia had heard about the tree program (her uncle has planted trees) but does not understand much about it. She has no plan to plant trees as the land is far from Manelima where she lives. Her future aspiration is to send children to school but she must work hard to raise income to do this.
Community Reforestation in Timor Leste 