Internship Report Compulsory work experience in the Master of Environmental Science program March 2, 2011 to July 23, 2011 Institution/NGO: Ngerengere River Eco Camp/Tour & Environmental Services P.O. Box 21 Chalinze – Pwani – Tanzania Tel : +255787933579 www.ngerengereriver.webs.com remmyraphael@yahoo.com ngeriv.ecocamp.tour@gmail.com Supervisor: Remigius Raphael Mushenga D-UWIS Supervising Lecturer: Prof. Peter J. Edwards peter.edwards@env.ethz.ch Intern: Rico Hergert Berglistrasse 17c 6005 Lucerne ricohergert@student.ethz.ch Bwawani/Lucerne July/August 2011 Rico Hergert D-UWIS Internship Report 1. Table of contents 1. Table of contents ............................................................................................................... 2 2. Overview of Ngerengere River Organization .................................................................... 3 2.1. Objectives .................................................................................................................. 3 2.2. Activities ..................................................................................................................... 3 2.3. History and organization ............................................................................................ 4 2.4. Obstacles for the organization ................................................................................... 4 3. Personal Report ................................................................................................................ 5 3.1. Work flow, atmosphere and communication .............................................................. 5 3.2. Technical and financial barriers ................................................................................. 6 4. Professional Report ........................................................................................................... 8 4.1. Land Survey............................................................................................................... 8 4.2. Land Use Plan Camp Area Ngerengere River Organization ................................... 16 a) Current Plan Ngerengere River Camp ..................................................................... 16 b) Future Land Use Plan Ngerengere River Camp ...................................................... 19 4.3. Maseyu Rain Water Harvesting Project ................................................................... 24 4.4. Tree nursery ............................................................................................................. 30 a) Tree nursery camp area........................................................................................... 30 b) Tree nursery widow group ....................................................................................... 31 Rico Hergert D-UWIS Internship Report 2. Overview Ngerengere River Organization Ngerengere River is a nonprofit organization located in Bwawani village, near Morogoro, Tanzania. 2.1. Objectives The current situation in most rural areas in Tanzania makes development hard to achieve. Economic hardship, lack of knowledge and other structural difficulties lead families to act inefficiently and unaware of alternatives. This reality ensures the permanence of poverty and environmental depletion. Therefore the goal of NGERIV is to tackle the existing problems through collective community effort. It aims to empower individuals with the necessary capabilities to improve their livelihoods. The area of intervention can be divided into three reciprocally inter-related areas: • Education; • Alternative means of income; • Environmental sustainability. 2.2. Activities To achieve these goals, Ngerengere River pursues different activities: - Sustainable Charcoal Production; this project helps to establish the sustainable use of natural resources and additionally creates a way of alternative income for the people involved. - Beekeeping; a means for the rural community to earn an alternative income without depleting the nature. - Widow Group; in Bwawani village the organization helped to establish a group consisting of widows. The goal of this group is to enable women in need to deal with their situation and also to make aware of problem areas like HIV/Aids. - Education; the organization supports the local schools with additional teaching staff and the supply of school material with the goal to improve the education of the students. A further objective is to create new courses like computer science or sports that were not part of the education so far. Furthermore the organization tries to establish a school in Lukwambe, a small sub village of Bwawani where people live 20 km away from the next school. - Land use planning and land survey; discussing and planning the best way of land use and facilitating ownership to increase the value of land for the community. - Cultural Group in Mwidu village; development and promotion of the local arts and crafts, and education of the local people on how to increase their trade skills into economically viable enterprises. - Organic Farming and Fair Trade; helping the rural communities to improve their farming skills and to get involved in Fair Trade organizations. Rico Hergert D-UWIS Internship Report - Eco Camp; establishment of an eco camp as the base of the organization which can host volunteers or tourists but also it can be used as a site for different projects. - Eco Tourism; the Eco Camp can be a place for tourists who want to spend some days away from the civilization in accord with the nature. - Volunteer program; volunteerism is fundamental for the organization and it keeps the different projects running. The volunteers bring new ideas and improvements. The organization provides a good environment in which volunteers are able to help successfully and in return experience life and problems of this place. 2.3. History and organization Mr. Remigius Mushenga founded the organization in 2006 starting with different small projects like the establishment of the EcoCamp or the charcoal project. Mr. Mushenga also is in the position of director of the organization which is based in Bwawani, Tanzania. In 2009 the organization got officially registered as Ngerengere River Eco Camp/Tour and environmental services. Until now a handful volunteers from different parts of the world were involved in several projects with Ngerengere River. The goal of the organization is to expand their activities for the future. 2.4. Obstacles for the organization In conducting its projects the organization faces a large number of barriers. The main obstacle is lack of money. The financial resources are strongly limited. This leads to problems like high transportation costs, costs of material and many more. The lack of awareness of the village people towards the activities of the organization is another problem. The know-how to get good solutions for certain projects is missing too. With the help of volunteers and a better network with other organizations Ngerengere River tries to improve the situation. Rico Hergert D-UWIS Internship Report 3. Personal Report For 20 weeks from March 2nd to July 23rd 2011 I worked with Ngerengere River Organization. The main subject was to do land survey and land use planning for the rural communities in Bwawani and the surrounding villages. Due to financial limitations, land use planning didn’t play the major role in my work. As an additional job I helped in the establishment of two tree nurseries. 3.1. Work flow, atmosphere and communication Ngerengere River is still a young and small organization. Because of that I could build up a close relationship with the head of the company. About half of the time of my internship I was the only person working for the organization. For the remaining time there were one or two more people working. This small number of people led to a familiar atmosphere and made it possible to exchange ideas and to talk about difficulties. Because of this situation I was involved in most decisions and planning during the time of my internship. This direct contact was a great help to get used to the different way of life in Tanzania. Furthemore people who were not directly involved in my work or in the organization were cooperative and tried to make my time in Tanzania as comfortable as possible. All these circumstances made me feel welcome in the village and made my work a lot easier. The working environment and working schedule was totally different from what I was used to in Switzerland. The work atmosphere in general was much more relaxed and time schedules were not that fixed. Also the organization of the week days was different. If there was nothing special I usually worked on Saturday and Sunday like on any other week day. But if there was a special event like an excursion or a celebration it took place on the weekend and I was not working that day. Also the daily working hours changed. Sometimes it happened that I worked only for a couple of hours but on other occasions I had to work for the whole day. Many things happened pretty spontaneously. Although there was a working plan for the whole time there was much changing and switching going on; for example I had an appointment with someone and they didn’t show up and then I always had to be prepared for some changes and I needed to be very flexible. During my internship I got used to this work atmosphere and I was able handle the situation. Nonetheless the organization of the work was sometimes too chaotic. I really had to insist on the working plan that it was possible to finish the work during my stay. The atmosphere was sometimes a bit too relaxed. Consequently it was my task to keep track of schedules and dates. In addition to that, during the last weeks of my internship more people realized what I was doing. So I got many new requests for land surveying. This led to a lot of work towards the end for the Maseyu project, the camp planning, the paper work for the survey and the survey for the newly requested plots. Finally I had to convince my boss that it was not possible to do all this work and I had to limit myself to the more important tasks. If I hadn’t insisted my job would have ended with a lot of unfinished work. Finally I felt sorry not being able to help everyone with my work. Rico Hergert D-UWIS Internship Report Because I was the first person who worked on this special project for Ngerengere River I could organize my work independently. I had a big influence on how we organized the land survey and the land use planning. Therefore it was possible to follow a project from the beginning until the end. But with time land survey became routine. Nevertheless every plot was different and I had to take a different approach. Different problems came up but the basic work was the same. That’s why the project in Maseyu and the land use planning for the camp was a good alternative. A problem was the language. Many people I was working with did not have a good education and therefore could only speak a little English. I learned Kiswahili for 20 lessons. But this few lessons only provided me with a little knowledge. That’s why I needed a translator who joined me for my field work. This made the work more difficult and it wasn’t possible to carry on some discussions with the farmers. Over the course of my internship my Swahili got better and the situation improved but the language barrier stayed high. Additionally filling in the forms with the people was difficult. The first reason was the forms being in Swahili but also because some people couldn’t really read or write. But despite all these obstacles we were able to figure out a solution and I was able to finish the work I started. 3.2. Technical and financial barriers At the beginning a big part of my work plan was to do land use planning. Also the district government assigned me to do a review for the land use plan for Visakazi village. Unfortunately this was not possible due to financial barriers. For reviewing the land use plan I would have needed to go to many different areas in the village what would have involved high transportation costs. Already for the common land survey the transportation costs were high. Ngerengere River doesn’t own a car yet and we had to rent a car or organize a motorbike to go somewhere. Also the review required the assistance of some people who already worked on the first plan and who had some knowledge about the area. This wouldn’t have been for free either. That’s the reason why we had to drop the review of the land use plan from our work schedule. But land use planning still played a minor role in my work for the camp area and the Maseyu rain water project. Money always was a problem, also when we needed materials for the work like renting a GPS, buying office materials or providing material for the tree nurseries. It always was important to pay attention that the costs were not too high for this organization with limited financial resources. To deal with technical equipment was a trouble on its own. There existed an internet access in the village but compared to the internet in Switzerland it was really slow. It always took a lot of time and costs to look something up. Therefore it wasn’t possible to do simple research. Another problem was the regular power cuts. The power could be gone at any time and sometimes it didn’t come back for some days. Because of the power cuts computer work was limited and in the camp there was no power at all. I was the first person who worked in this project and for this reason there was no one who introduced me into this job. I had to find out how to use Arc GIS and the GPS for land survey in the most appropriate way. At university in Switzerland I used to work with Arc GIS and a GPS but not in the same context as I had to use it for my work in Tanzania. So at the beginning a big part of my job was to find out how to handle the GPS and the software. I also Rico Hergert D-UWIS Internship Report had to get familiar with the UTM coordinate system which I haven’t used before. I got a few tips from a local expert who was familiar with the handling of a GPS in the area but the vast bulk I had to figure out on my one. After a week of sorting out this problem I was happy to be able to solve this problem, but probably not in the most common way. Rico Hergert D-UWIS Internship Report 4. Professional Report The professional report consists of four parts: Land survey for the people, land use planning for the camp site from Ngerengere River, land use planning for the Maseyu Rain Water harvesting project plus the establishment of two tree nurseries that initially was not in my work plan. 4.1. Land Survey The goal of the land survey with Ngerengere River is to facilitate land ownership to the people in Bwawani and the surrounding villages. Many people own land but they don’t have a certificate that shows the size and the position of their land. Land survey is a means to get an ownership certificate for the district. With the plans people will be enabled to fill in the requested forms to apply for this certificate. With an ownership certificate it is also possible to apply for loans, for example from a bank or some microcredit agencies. With the loans people can initiate some projects on their ground. In short, the goal of the land survey is to reduce poverty with land ownership. During my internship I surveyed 45 different plots of land of 38 different parties. For some persons I surveyed two plots and for one person even three. The size of the surveyed plots was between 88.5m2 and 1866456m2. In the official forms the size should be listed in hectares but the people preferred the size to be specified in acreage. The surveyed land was of different use. The use for most of the plots is farming, some are used for cattle keeping, some as residential places, some for businesses and several plots had no use so far. Some plots had a mix of several different usages. The survey was based on hand GPS and the coordinates were measured in the UTM System with the UTM zone 37 south and the reference beacon ZAT 224. The Map datum is ARC 1950 and for measuring and drawing the sketches ARC GIS 9 was used. The whole project was approved by the district government in Bagamoyo who got a presentation of the planned work before we started with the survey. The people of the district government appreciated our work because the government itself has not the money and resources to do the same work. The work process for the survey was more or less the same for every plot. First I needed to get an appointment with the owner to plan the time schedule for the land survey. The village government and Ngerengere River Organization selected the people who got their land surveyed. The contact to the owner was the most important because he had to show the way around the plot. At every corner of the plot I had save the coordinates with the GPS. This involved some difficulties. First of all it was not always clear where the corners were located. With the GPS and a normal compass we tried to find every direction change and that’s how we could justify all the corner points. Sometimes it was not precisely clear where the border between two plots was lying. Normally there were some marks along the border. Often these marks were evergreen sisal plants or a nick in a tree. Sometimes there was a discussion between the neighbors about the precise position of the border. But that was not a big barrier and we always found a solution. Also an important part was also to get the names of the neighbors bordering the plot of land and to Rico Hergert D-UWIS Internship Report take a picture of the owner of the plot. Back in the office I put the coordinates in the computer and it was possible to measure the size of the plot with Arc GIS. This program was also the base for the sketches I drew. Then I had to prepare two forms and a sketch that made it possible to apply for the ownership certificate. The first form included the location of the plot, a simple sketch, all the coordinates and the names of the neighboring plots and the directions (Form 1). A second form included all the information about the owner or the owner family and the size of the plot (Form 2). Third, there was also a bigger simple sketch of the surveyed plot (Sketch 1). After having prepared the forms the owner had to fill in the information about himself and then he had to sign the forms. Three copies for each plot were required: One copy for the district, one for the village and one for Ngerengere River Organization. After the completion of the forms we handed them out to the administration. With that step our part of the work was done. Additionally we made a list with the owner names and the dimensions of all surveyed plots. Rico Hergert D-UWIS Internship Report Names and size from all surveyed plots Name and Coordinate Points Scale of Sketch Size m2 Size ha Size acres Jumanne Ramadhan Hatibu (80 -83) 1:5000 166085.5 16.61 41.04 Shaban Ramadhan Hatibu (81 -85) 1:5000 146742.5 14.67 36.26 Shaba Ra Amini Shabani Nassoro (91 -94) 1:2500 131531.5 13.15 32.50 Issa Rutanjanguwa Kampwani (86 -90) 1:5000 145356.5 14.54 35.92 Lameki Mwakikoti (95 -99) 1:1000 13424.5 1.34 3.32 Julius Shija Shiwalla (100 -103) 1:1000 4000.0 0.40 0.99 Abdallah Thabiti Kalenge (104 -107) 1:1000 6494.5 0.65 1.60 Pascal Kingalu (108 -113) 1:5000 149305.5 14.93 36.90 Salum Bofta (111 -116) 1:2500 103055.0 10.31 25.47 Ally S. Kibaya (117 -124) 1:2500 34912.5 3.49 8.63 Bibie Juma (125 -128) 1:2500 16249.5 1.62 4.02 Isaakwisa Gideon Mwasanjobe (129 -134) 1:2500 88765.0 8.88 21.94 Jesca Jonathan Bisenshoni (135 -138) 1:500 696.0 0.07 0.17 Remigius Raphael Mushenga (139 142) 1:500 1164.0 0.12 0.29 Augustion M. Kimati (143 -146) 1:2500 44818.0 4.48 11.08 Theresia A. Kasenga (147 -154) 1:5000 144777.0 14.48 35.78 Isaak Peter (155 -158) 1:500 1309.5 0.13 0.32 Isaak Peter (159 -162) 1:500 313.0 0.03 0.08 Bwawani Catholic Church (163 -167) 1:2500 28170.0 2.82 6.96 Paschael Kingalu (168 -175) 1:2500 45012.0 4.50 11.12 Henrick Helman Chaula (176 -182) 1:2500 45566.5 4.56 11.26 Alphonse Anton Zembwe (183 -191) 1:1000 8191.5 0.82 2.02 Ramadan Miraji Mayange (192 -195) 1:2500 27739.5 2.77 6.85 Ramadhani Ally Mbuyu (203 -208) 1:5000 90479.5 9.05 22.36 Ashraf Athuman Mgama (209 -212) 1:1000 8331.5 0.83 2.06 RashidiSaidi (213 -216) 1:1000 6992.0 0.70 1.73 Sospeter Andason Mnyanyindi (196 -202 and 217 -221) 1:2500 43801.0 4.38 10.82 William Shidura Mnileni (229 -232) 1:5000 171682.5 17.17 42.43 Andrew Peter Meela (233 -236) 1:1000 2141.0 0.21 0.53 Anold Andrew Peter (237 -240) 1:1000 275.5 0.03 0.07 Calvin Gabriel Meela (241 -244) 1:500 2326.5 0.23 0.57 Atu A. Mwakitega (245 -248) 1:500 88.5 0.01 0.02 Atu A. Mwakitega (250 -253) 1:500 685.5 0.07 0.17 Dr. Lazaro Kasumuni Mdeka (254 -257) 1:500 475.0 0.05 0.12 Sikujua Issa (266 -269) 1:500 316.5 0.03 0.08 Issa Ally Issa (258 -261) 1:500 1234.5 0.12 0.31 Issa Ally Issa (262 -265) 1:500 145.0 0.01 0.04 Issa Ally Issa (270 -273) 1:1000 3274.5 0.33 0.81 Raymond Nicholaus Karia (274 -284) 1:2500 57639.5 5.76 14.24 Siasa Saidi Rutengwe (285 -296) 1:2500 67368.0 6.74 16.65 Siasa Saidi Rutengwe (297 -300) 1:500 2064.0 0.21 0.51 Isumail Sadiki Lambukui (302 -306) 1:10000 1461567.5 146.16 361.18 Adrian Mpande (489 -494) 1:5000 158545.0 15.85 39.18 Ngerengere River Camp (397 -412) 1:5000 341211 34.12 84.32 Paulo Sultany Langwa (495 -518) 1:15000 1866456.0 186.65 461.23 Rico Hergert D-UWIS Internship Report Example of Form 1 . Rico Hergert D-UWIS Internship Report Rico Hergert D-UWIS Internship Report Example of Form 2 Rico Hergert D-UWIS Internship Report Rico Hergert D-UWIS Internship Report Example of Sketch 1 Rico Hergert D-UWIS Internship Report 4.2. Land Use Plan Camp Area Ngerengere River Organization The Campsite from Ngerengere River is located about 10km northwest of Bwawani in Visakazi Village, Pwani, Tanzania. Ngerengere is the biggest river of the closer environment and in the camp area it is also the border between Pwani and Morogoro Region. The survey of the area showed that the plot of land has the size of 341’211m2 (34.1 hectares or 81.3 acres). To the north, west and south the plot is bordered by Ngerengere River. In the southwest the camp borders a small farm. To the east the camp borders bush area which at the moment is for no special use. The camp area is used to host people who are working for Ngerengere River Organization and also as a place for Ecotourism. Furthermore the organization pursues several different projects in the camp area. For the camp area there existed so far no plan for the current use nor for the future development of the area. The plan for the current use is the result of the survey, and an inventory control of the whole area. Additional to the plan I included a description of the features that are listed in the plan. a) Current Plan Ngerengere River Camp From the total area of 341’211m2 currently 2300m2 are used for Campsites or working places. This is less than one percent of the whole area. Taking into account the land use for ways, there is little more than one percent, or about 3500m2 of the total area, mainly in human use. For the rest of the area, excluding the cattle buffer zone, there is no special use. The land is covered mostly by dense forest along the river and by bush and grassland in the interior. The survey for the camp area is based on ground survey by hand GPS. Rico Hergert D-UWIS Internship Report Ngerengere River Eco Camp Plan 2011 Rico Hergert D-UWIS Internship Report 17 Main Camp 1100m2 The main camp is the major center of the area. It includes most constructions. The main camp currently consists of three houses and a fourth one is under construction. A fifth house that will be able to host several people is planned. The main construction is the common room. It contains additional room to store food and other items. There is also a small shelter for the kitchen and a roofed fireplace. Camping Places 700m2 There are currently three places designated for camping in the area. The two places situated closer to the main camp consist of a shelter and a simple toilet. The shelter serves as a cover for the tents. The camping place situated close to the river is only a cleared area of land. Staff Residence 200m2 The staff site currently consists of one shelter with a permanent tent plus a small fireplace. Tree Nursery 300m2 There are two places designated for a tree nursery. One of these sites is currently in use and the second one is a cleared area which is ready to be put in use. Rico Hergert D-UWIS Internship Report Buffer Zone 2600m2 Several people who keep cattle live in the area around the camp. For natural conservation reasons the cattle is not allowed to enter the camp area. The buffer zone is a piece of land that provides access to the river for the cattle and protects the surrounding land. Graveyard The graveyard consists of several graves which over the course of time were covered by bush land. The graveyard was used by people who lived in this area some decades ago. Now the graveyard can be considered as nature. It is only possible to see a few gravestones and there is no special access to the place. View Point The View Point is a place that overlooks the river at a nice turn. It is a good resting point where the nature along Ngerengere River can be observed. Farm In the close future the Farm could be involved by Ngerengere River Organization for organic farming or other projects. b) Future Land Use Plan Ngerengere River Camp Ngerengere River Organization is a young organization. The development of the organization is still in progress. This affects the land around the camp as well. The future development should consider all the goals of the organization. There should be room for the community, a place for education, a project like the tree nursery, some areas for natural conservation and also a location where the organization can host volunteers, guests and tourists. To put all this plans on paper and to keep in mind some regulations for the future I supported Ngerengere River Organization to develop a land use plan for the camp area. At the moment only one percent of the total area is in human use. In the future it is planned to expand this area to about 13’000m2 of the total of 341’211m2. This is equivalent to 3.8 percent, which still is a small part. If we considered the planned dam as human used area as well, the area expands to 23’085m2, which is equivalent to 6.7 percent. Compared to the Rico Hergert D-UWIS Internship Report natural space this is a small amount. 118’300m2 are reserved for conservation, which is equivalent to 34 percent. The rest a mixture between mainly human used land and nature and it’s not possible to define it clearly. But it is a goal to keep the balance between human use and nature. The plan is an effective tool to achieve this goal. Rico Hergert D-UWIS Internship Report Ngerengere River Eco Camp Future Land Use Plan Rico Hergert D-UWIS Internship Report 21 Camping Places 200m2 Additionally to the existing camping, another camping place is planned along the river to the east of the main camp. This camping place could be expanded to a site with one building that can host one family, similar to the ones in the main camp. Conservation Area 118’300m2 One of the main goals of the organization is natural conservation and conservation of Ngerengere River. The riverbank from Ngerengere is one of the few areas in the region that has dense forest. The forest along the river is an important habitat for many animals and plants. This habitat is endangered because of the dense population and lack of awareness of the people. Another big problem for the river is pollution. Conserving the forest along the river is a way to counteract this development. There’s no access to the untouched conservation area from the plot of Ngerengere River Organization. The ways to the camping spots and to the view point at the river are the only paths cutting through the conservation area. Dense forest grows along the river in the conservation area. A bit further away from the river the area consists of grassland interspersed with trees. In the future the forest will expand into this area because nothing prevents the trees from growing. Valuable trees like spirostachys africana are found in large numbers in the conservation area. It is also possible to observe different animals like Black-and-white colobus monkeys, bush babies and many bird species. With some luck, it is also possible to see several small antelopes or even leopards. The conservation area is a big benefit for the camp area. To the people and visitors it is an example how the area would look without human interference. It is an interesting place to visit for plant and animal observation. Dense forest along the river Spirostachys African in the conservation area Bee Breeding At the moment several bee haves are distributed throughout the plot. In the future the bee haves will be concentrated in smaller area. The goal of the concentration is to do research: What is the best way to keep the bees and how to get the biggest output. Right now not many people in the area are tending bees. With the bee breeding project Ngerengere River Organization wants to help people to get an alternative or additional income. Therefore the Rico Hergert D-UWIS Internship Report bee breeding area is also a teaching area where people can learn how to tend bees. For this reason and to get easy access to harvesting the honey the bee breeding area is located close to the main camp and other important facilities. Tree Planting 31’400m2 At the moment the future tree planting area is grassland interspersed with a few bushes and trees. With tree planting the look of this area will change to a light forest. These trees are cultivated for different projects. The wood will be used for the charcoal project in the camp area but also for construction wood in the camp and other places. The goal is to use the trees from the camps own tree nursery. Despite the harvesting of the trees the pressure on the forest will not be too strong and the forest habitat will still grow. In the future the organization plans to expand the camp area and wants to use it for tree planting. Dam 10’685m2 There is a plan to build a dam of the size of one hectare in the camp area. The location has been chosen for topological reasons. This area has a small valley and to build a reservoir the only construction needed is the final dam. The dam should be set up for several reasons. During the dry season in September and October Ngerengere River has no lotic water and the water stays only in small pools. The population along the river relies on the water from the river. The goal of the dam is to have a constant water source throughout the year. The dam is going to simplify the access to water for the population in the environment. Other dams in the area with a similar size proved that they don’t dry up in the dry season. Furthermore the plan is to release fish into the dam and introduce fish farming to the region. It is also possible to teach how to do fish farming and show a way of alternative income. Last but not least the dam has some recreational purpose. The population and visitors of the area will be able to enjoy the dam and relax along the shore. School/Playground 6250m2 Lukwambe is a small sub village of Bwawani located close to the camp area. The next school from Lukwambe is 17 kilometers away in Bwawani. Because of this long distance it is not possible for many students to go to school. A survey in Lukwambe proved that in this region more than 100 children in the age for primary school have no or only difficult access to education. The construction of a simple school in the camp area could be a solution for this problem. Also some volunteers from Ngerengere River Organization could assist the teaching staff and give some inputs to the education. Additionally to the school there would be a playground that could help to introduce sports into the curriculum. But the playground would be a place for recreational use for the people of the camp and the population of the environment as well. Office/Parking Rico Hergert D-UWIS Internship Report 3000m2 This part serves as an extension to the main camp. A building which hosts the office of Ngerengere River Organization is planned and also some space for a parking lot. Charcoal Project Ngerengere River Organization is involved in a project in Maseyu that produces charcoal in a sustainable way. The goal of the organization is to introduce sustainable charcoal production to the region of Bwawani. Producing charcoal in a sustainable way protects the nature but also provides the people a better income. The charcoal project is located at the edge of the plot. That’s why there will be an easy access to the kiln but also for transportation. Furthermore the project is close to the tree planting zone from where a part of the wood can be delivered. 4.3. Maseyu Rain Water Harvesting Project Abandoned Quarry with Pond from the Northwest 22.06.2011 Maseyu is a small village in Morogoro district. There exists no bigger river or lake close to the village and therefore it is hard to get water for the people during the dry season. These days there exists a project with a plan to fill an abandoned quarry, dating from road construction, with water. This pond could be used as permanent water source. My job was to survey the area of the abandoned quarry. I had to check where a small dam for collecting water would be placed best. I also had to do research if the conditions were appropriate to set up such a project. Subsequently follows my report to Ande Mallango the owner of the land and initiator of the project. Rico Hergert D-UWIS Internship Report Report to Ande Mallango On June 21st and 22nd 2011 I surveyed the land for the Maseyu Rain Water Harvesting Project according to the short overview of June 20th and the project brief. The results of the survey are two sketches that are attached to this file. Sketch 1 shows an overview of the area. The main goal of this sketch is to show where the planned water collecting dam should pass. For this survey I took into consideration that a minimal slope on the way to the quarry should exist in order to guarantee the runoff. But in the calculation stays a small uncertainty because the difference of the altitude is small and the measurement of the GPS sometimes can differ in a metric range. The dam will pass several small valleys on the way to the quarry. At the positions where the dam passes the valleys there will be a possibility that several small catchment basins could arise. For these basins I tried to estimate how large they would become if there was a lot of rainfall. The coordinate points that are shown on the sketch are attached at the end of this file. Sketch 2 shows the area around the abandoned quarry on a bigger scale. This sketch shows how big the pond is expected to be according to Mr. Mallango. The measurement of the surface area is only an approximation. It also shows the size of the pond during the day the survey was done. The size is only an estimation because not the whole area around the pond is accessible. Furthermore it shows where the collected water is supposed to enter the abandoned quarry. If there are no special constructions the water would enter the quarry soon after point 342. But in this area the slope of the abandoned quarry is to steep. So there would be a need of a construction that leads the water to point 350 where the slope is less steep. If the water entered the quarry in the steep area before point 350 this would lead to accelerated erosion. Lots of soil would be washed into the pond and it would be filled up after some time. To my mind this is a very good project that is beneficial for the whole area. On the way to the abandoned quarry we passed a man-made well where people are able to collect water (Picture 2). Even though it rained the night before there was not much water in the well. So it would be a great help for the community if they had an easy access to water all year. To construct this pond different problems have to be reflected. A problem could be that the slope in the water collecting area is too flat and there would be a loss of water by seeping. On the other hand if there is a steeper slope the water collecting area would become smaller. Therefore it could be a problem to collect enough water to fill the abandoned quarry. But I believe that there is a way to solve these problems. An adequate trench that considers all these conditions has to be built. Additionally we discussed other problems like the pollution from the cattle in the catchment area. The feces of the cows could lead to some pollution of the water in the pond what could be a health risk to the people using the water. So another important point of the project should be to create awareness in the community and among the farmers of the area. They have to learn how they can benefit from the project and in turn what they have to contribute that the project will be a success. This should be a realistic goal because everybody will benefit from the project. Largely I am convinced that this is a very good project and a great opportunity for the community. That’s why I am interested to learn how the project will Rico Hergert D-UWIS Internship Report proceed. For the success of this project also a donator would be a great help and I hope that with or without external help it will get a chance. Picture 2: Man-made well for collecting water 22.06.2011 Rico Hergert D-UWIS Internship Report Table with Coordinate points Points Easting Northing Altitude (meters above sea level) 318 385657 9259661 408m 336 385528 9259895 407m 340 385581 9259956 404m 342 385633 9260022 402m 345 385655 9260036 347 385685 9260042 401m 350 385752 9260112 395m 353 385594 9259619 415m 356 385593 9259640 415m 358 385581 9259662 414m 359 385587 9259652 414m 362 385572 9259700 412m 365 385565 9259715 412m 369 385522 9259822 408m 374 385528 9259791 408m 379 385610 9260073 381 385643 9260129 382 385628 9260150 383 385641 9260175 385 385699 9260218 389 385746 9260170 388m 391 385741 9260125 388m 394 385661 9260149 388m 395 385681 9260138 384m 396 385688 9260104 377m Position Format: UTM/UPS Map Datum: ARC 1950 Rico Hergert D-UWIS Internship Report Sketch 1 Rico Hergert D-UWIS Internship Report Sketch 2 Rico Hergert D-UWIS Internship Report 4.4. Tree nursery Besides my other jobs I could participate in the establishment of tree nurseries. This job was the main task of another volunteer who worked for Ngerengere River Organization. I was not able to work on my own projects all the time and because everybody helped each other out this was a good alternative and I got involved in every step of development. a) Tree nursery camp area We established a tree nursery close to the camp site of Ngerengere River Organization. First we had to look for an appropriate flat area where there is enough space for the trees to grow. Then we went to Morogoro to the national tree seed center. There we got a consultation what tree species to plant. The first step was to mix the soil and to fill the pots. After arranging the pots on the ground we put the seeds in the soil. When there was no rain we had to water the plants every day. Apart from watering we needed to weed and to cut the tap roots from time to time. We planted different species in the nursery. Of 500 Khaya anthoteca seeds we only got about 10 seedlings. We were more successful with the other three species. We got about 3000 seedlings of Gmelina arborea, 1500 of Eucalyptus tereticornis and 250 of Afzelia quanzensis. We chose these species because they all grow fast and it was possible to see some progress. The goal of the tree nursery was to get trees that can be planted around the camp area but also can be distributed to the people living around the camp area. With the distribution of the trees the organization wants to create awareness among the people about the importance of trees but also give them some help for an alternative income. Another important part of the work was to instruct people how to tend the trees and how to plant and raise the seedlings. In every step of the establishment of the tree nursery different people were involved. Because of that it was possible to teach the people the importance of the trees and their care. Tree Nursery in the camp area Rico Hergert D-UWIS Internship Report b) Tree nursery widow group Ngerengere River Organization supports a local group of widows in Bwawani village. So far the organization helped the group with the establishment of a chicken project. The group keeps several chickens. With the sale of the products the group gains some income. Now the organization helped the widow group to create a tree nursery that also should help to get additional income. After the seedlings grow to a certain size the widows can offer them for sale. As initial aid the widows got some seedlings from the tree nursery of the camp. Then with our help, they went through the same procedure as we did with the tree nursery at the camp. It was important that the widows were involved in every step in order to qualify for their independent work in the future. Teaching the widows how to establish a tree nursery and how tend the trees was the most important job of this tree nursery project. Rico Hergert D-UWIS Internship Report