NWB Fonds and FarmTree are developing a smart reforestation tool together.

Reforestation can be a win-win-win measure when done smartly. It prevents erosion, helps retain water, and provides local farmers with an income as they can sell wood, fruit, and other products. That’s why the NWB Fonds is investing in a project in Tanzania, where, together with the start-up FarmTree, a handy tool is being developed: the NWB Fonds watershed reforestation tool. The cooperation agreement was signed on March 9 in Wageningen.

What problem does reforestation solve? Where nothing grows anymore, the soil is easily washed away when it rains, leading to silt and waste entering rivers. This causes pollution and clogging of dams downstream, for example. With erosion, there is also no biodiversity left, and agriculture suffers. In many places around the world, rainfall is becoming increasingly intense due to climate change, making this issue even worse. Planting trees can stop this chain of problems, as they stabilize the soil. And if you choose a good mix of different tree species, they can be harvested in the short, medium, and long term, ensuring local farmers have a stable income.

Because tree planting counts as CO2 compensation, various organizations are now sponsoring large-scale tree planting efforts. FarmTree, a start-up from Wageningen, is committed to ensuring this is done the right way. They have developed a tool that predicts the right mix of trees and cash crops, tailored to the soil and climate conditions in a specific area. It shows, for example, how much CO2 compensation can be expected and the mix of products farmers can use. It’s a great instrument. However, the tool doesn't yet show the effect of tree planting on the water management system. And that’s important to ensure the water system remains sustainably healthy. Some trees, for example, consume a lot of water. In the short term, reforestation might be beneficial, but in the long term, it may not be.

This is exactly why a project has been launched in the Mindu watershed in Tanzania by Wereld Waternet to expand the tool with a water module. This module will visualize how much water flows in and out of a defined area with the planting of a tree mix. It sounds simple, but it is complicated to model. Wereld Waternet, the international working organization of, among others, the Amstel Gooi and Vecht Water Board, is collaborating with water managers in Tanzania and the agro-ecologists and ICT specialists from FarmTree for this project.

Bert van Boggelen, director of the NWB Fonds, said: “When the request for co-financing came in, we initially thought: should we collaborate with the private sector? Because that often involves big capital. However, after getting to know FarmTree better, we realized that it is a small company with an ideal that aligns well with the NWB Fonds' mission—contributing to climate adaptation with nature-based solutions in a way that benefits the local population.” Arnoud Braun, CEO of FarmTree, is in turn pleased to have found the fund: “The tool isn’t complete without the water module; it’s an essential component. And we need water experts to develop it, especially hydrologists. The NWB Fonds makes this possible in the Tanzania project with Wereld Waternet. Banks don’t understand what we’re doing, so they don’t want to help us; this fund does. We are happy with their support and their proactivity.”

On March 9, the two parties signed a cooperation agreement. This forms the basis for the project in Tanzania, but it also opens the door for the application of the tool elsewhere in the world. Van Boggelen stated: “The fund exists to invest in integrated water management in poorer countries, and that’s exactly what we’re doing here. Once the water module has been developed in Tanzania, the NWB Fonds watershed reforestation tool can then be used free of charge in other waterboard projects, at least until 2030, as the Blue Deal projects of the waterboards run until then. The only costs will be for adapting the tool to local conditions and training users.”

FarmTree symbolically handed over a coffee plant and a banana plant to the NWB Fonds, with the task of taking good care of them until 2030. Braun said: “That’s quite a challenge, it requires care and attention, just like the development of the new tool.”