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These kinds of stories worry me. Why spend so much money in re-forestation? Trees are easy to grow - I have grown quite a few. And forests are very good in regenerating - just remove people and watch the vegetation reclaim its land!
Alternatively, do what they did in Murang'a - teach people the value of having trees on their small parcels of land.... https://twitter.com/mungaikihanya/status/1081803757967552513?s=20
Look...a satellite view of some random place in rural Murang'a - trees everywhere; this is a densely populated county, but you can hardly see people's houses!
The tree of choice in Murang'a is the fast-growing Grevillea Robusta. Even though it is ubiquitous in the county [every homestead has at least 20!], you'd be hard-pressed to get anyone to sell it to you. Consequently, a mature Grevillea fetches upwards of sh10k!
It is a very good source of timber and firewood/charcoal. As long as you keep it trimmed - pruning branches for firewood - its root will be confined to a small radius of 2m [max] hence it doesn't starve you crops of soil nutrients. Win-Win!
