The right tree in the right place for the right purpose: supplying high-quality tree planting material of native tree species (NTS) for landscape restoration in Sub-Saharan Africa (RTRP-Seed)

Planting native trees is recognised as important for reaching forest landscape restoration goals, but there is a significant gap between the aspiration to plant them and actual practice, where the use of a narrow range of exotic trees generally dominates. RTRP Seed project addresses deficiencies in the tree seed and seedling supply sector, an important contributor to the gap in native tree species planting within Sub-Saharan African countries. It supports the development of an enabling policy and institutional environment; builds capacity in native tree species seed and seedling delivery, including through developing new business models for tree nurseries; and engages in knowledge exchange to support scaling to other African nations and more widely. The result will support planting of more diverse, high-quality, seedlings of native tree species in large-scale forest landscape restoration programmes to better support biodiversity, carbon sequestration and livelihood development targets.

Project data

Countries: Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya
IKI funding: 19,992,499.58 €
Duration: 08/2022 till 12/2029
Status: open
Implementing organisation: World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF)
Political Partner: Ministry of the Environment, Water and Sanitation - Burkina Faso

Environment, Forest and Climate Change Commission (EFCCC) - Ethiopia

Ministry of Water and Environment - Uganda

National Forestry Authority - Rwanda
Implementing Partner: Botanical Gardens Conservation International (BGCI)

unique land use GmbH
Online: https://www.cifor-icraf.org/rtrp-seed/

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State of implementation/results

The project launch event took place on the sidelines of the sixth United Nations General Assembly held in Nairobi, Kenya, from 26 February to 1 March 2024. The German Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV), Honourable Steffi Lemke, attended the opening ceremony as the guest of honour. High-level dignitaries present included Mr Gitobu Mugambi (Principal Secretary, State Department of Forestry, Government of Kenya), Dr Motuma Tolera (Deputy Director General, Ethiopian Forest Development), and Ms Beatrice Cyiza (Director General, Environment and Climate Change Department, Rwanda).
Since then, inception meetings were conducted in the partner countries to introduce project objectives and initiate the planning of activities. These meetings were held in Ethiopia (11–12 July), Kenya (15–16 July), Uganda (4–5 September), and Rwanda (5–6 December).
In Burkina Faso, ICRAF is supporting the initiative by deploying two scientists from the Centre National de Semences Forestières and the Institute of Environment and Agricultural Research.
Following the inception phase, BGCI, ICRAF and UNIQUE intensified their project work through staff recruitment, deployment of technical advisors, numerous field visits, and assessments of partner institutions and potential sites. Initial cooperation dialogues were launched across all project countries.
Together with national partners, interest profiles and initial budget drafts were developed; further proposals are currently under development. Cooperation agreements for the 2025–2027 implementation period were signed with EPRLAB in Ethiopia (under the leadership of Hilal Mohamed Omar) and the National Forest Authority (NFA) in Uganda (Acting Assistant Commissioner Issa Katwesige). A request for the release of initial partnership funds has been submitted to ZUG.
Under BGCI’s Africa Budget, the following organisations are being supported in Kenya: Centre for Ecosystem Restoration Kenya (CER-K), International Tree Foundation (ITF), Friends of Arabuko-Sokoke (FoAS), Kaya Chonyi, the National Museums of Kenya, and Green Hearts of Kenya (GHK). In Uganda, Tooro Botanical Gardens (TBG) is among the supported partners.
A particular highlight was the participation of all consortium partners in the GLF Africa Conference held on 17 September 2024 in Nairobi, where the IKI RTRP project was presented through panel discussions and presentations.
In the course of project implementation, partner organisations ICRAF, BGCI, and UNIQUE have launched various core activities.

Latest Update:
06/2025