Newsletter October 2021 Mazingira Bora TIST is an innovative, time - tested, afforestation program led by the participants.
846 501 Ichuga TIST Cluster: Working Together with local Primary School to fight Climate Change. Page 2 TIST: Leadership and Governance in your Cluster. Page 3 Small Group Techniques: Group interaction. Page 5 Thinning your trees for successful growth — avoid clear-cutting! Page 6 Inside: Newsletter October 2021 Mazingira Bora TIST is an innovative, time - tested, afforestation program led by the participants. Not for sale www .tist.org English Version S
Published by TIST-Kenya. Web: www.tist.org Email: martinweru@tist.org Tel: 0722 - 846 501 Ichuga TIST Cluster: Working Together with local Primary School to fight Climate Change. Page 2
TIST: Leadership and Governance in your Cluster. Page 3 Small Group Techniques: Group interaction. Page 5 Thinning your trees for successful growth — avoid clear-cutting! Page 6 Inside: Newsletter October 2021 Mazingira Bora TIST is an innovative, time - tested, afforestation program led by the participants. Not for sale www .tist.org English Version Some TIST Farmers from Nyweri Cluster working together in a Conservation Farming (CF) plot. ENGLISH VERSION 2 W e are Ichuga TIST Cluster located near Nanyuki town. When learnt about TIST back in 2005. We got very much interested. Among the initial members of TIST were farmers who were also school board members of local primary school – Ichuga CCM Primary School. We thought, it was important to include our school in environmental matters. We thought this would further engage pupils in matters of environment conservation. When TIST agreed to work with the school, our head teacher and other teachers engaged pupils in developing tree nurseries and in planting trees around the school compound. Planting trees effort has enabled teachers to practically teach pupils about Climate change in both Science and Social Studies. Our head teacher, Madam Nancy Mwaniki has this to say, “Our school environment has changed tremendously over the time. We have enough shade that makes our learning environment very cool. Nanyuki is predominately dry area. Sometimes it gets terribly hot. Our trees give us refuge in such times. We are grateful we got a chance to work with TIST.” With combined effort of the parents, pupils and teachers, we have so far planted and kept alive 1,331 trees. Besides getting shade, we also prune them for firewood needs in the school. Our pupils have also learn much more about trees and their roles in fighting climate change. Trees also act as wind breakers. We feel safe with trees! We are happy to announce our gratitude in receiving TIST carbon profit share of KES 64,259.00. This payment came at the right time. We were at the process of building an extra classroom and we were running out of funds.
When we received this cheque, it was a big relief to the school and to the parents. We continue encourage our parents to join TIST and plant many more trees each rainy season! Ichuga TIST Cluster: Working Together with local Primary School to fight Climate Change. By Josephine Mwangi,TIST Cluster Servant. Help Wanted. Are you a member of TIST or any of your parents or grand parents, a TIST member? Would you like to join our TIST social media and Newsletter Team? Or our Accounts Team? Send your application to: charlesibeeee@tist.org ENGLISH VERSION 3 T oday, TIST has more than 200 Clusters. In each Cluster, Servant Leaders support our success and share their strengths. Each Cluster has governance and leadership as follows: Elected Cluster Leadership
• Cluster Leader
• Cluster Co-leader
• Cluster Accountability person Cluster Leaders, Co-leaders, and Accountability person serve in each position for a period of four months.After four months of service, the Cluster leader rotates out. The Co-leader becomes the Leader, while the Accountability person becomes the Co-leader. Women and men alternate in the elections. If the Accountability Person is a man, the next one elected will be a woman. Your Cluster should democratically elect a new Accountability person. Cluster elections are important and mandatory for all TIST Clusters. Role of Cluster Leadership. Role of a Leader. 1) Should be a servant to the whole Cluster and exemplify TIST Values. 2) Leads/facilitates Cluster activities: coordinates Cluster meeting, quantification and training schedules with other servant leaders. 3) Motivates groups to achieve big results, especially planting trees and practicing CF. 4) Helps the Cluster to remain strong and united. 5) Helps plan for well-organized Cluster meetings with other servant leaders and making sure the meetings are properly led and trained. 6) Works with Accountability Person to ensure that Cluster Meeting and Accounting records are kept properly. 7) Works with Accountability Person and Cluster Servant to ensure monthly Cluster reports and Account reports are accurate and sent. 8) Helps recruit and train more Small Groups to be registered. 9) Helps Small Groups have their Greenhouse Gas contracts signed, scanned and uploaded, if necessary. 10) Welcomes and introduces any new visitor who might attend the meeting. 11) For payments, they get vouchers and other materials ready before Cluster meetings. Works with Accountability Person to make sure the proper payment process is followed, and communicates any questions or problems to TIST leaders and Cluster Servants. They remind Small Group members of the next meeting. Role of a Co-leader.
1) Takes over when the leader is not there, while the co-leader is to serve both the Cluster members and the Cluster leader. TIST: Leadership and Governance in your Cluster. ENGLISH VERSION 4 2) Helps keep time during Cluster meetings. 3) Takes records during the Cluster meetings. 4) Read the previous minutes to the meeting and keep record of the minutes and discussion held in the Cluster. 5) Helps train newly elected Accountability People. 6) Evaluate quality of Cluster Trainings and report to GOCC. 7) Attend GOCC meetings as Cluster Council Representative. Role of an Accountability Person. 1) Receives Cluster Budget and announces amount received and spent at each Cluster meeting. 2) Works with the Cluster to plan how to use the Cluster Budget to achieve big results. 3) Keeps and maintains Cluster records in an organized Cluster record book, accurately and in proper condition. 4) Allows inspection of Cluster Records by Cluster members and TIST leaders. 5) Organizes with Cluster Servant to send both Monthly Cluster meeting and Accounting reports every month. 6) Trains the next accountability person. 7) Helps and supports other servants to serve the Small Groups. 8) During payments, they hand out vouchers to groups with at least two members present, reviewsvouchers, communicates with payment support coordinators, and follows the payment process accurately and honestly. 9) Evaluates Quality of Cluster Trainings and reports to GOCC. 10) Attend GOCC meetings as Cluster Council Representative. Role of Group of Clusters Council Representatives. 1) Discover and share Best Practices from Clusters. 2) Assure high quality training for the Clusters following TIST Values. 3) Assure high quality quantification following TIST Values. 4) Maintain working equipment for training and quantification. 5) Report concerns and make recommendations for policies to Leadership Council. 6) Expand TIST through present Clusters. 7) Hold Administrative Hearings if a Cluster Servant is suspended, to investigate facts and make recommendations on suspension. 8) Hold Administrative Hearings if a Cluster Leader is not following TIST Values. 9) Recommend people from the Group of Clusters for additional TIST responsibilities such as Auditor, TSE, or Master Trainer and other responsibilities. 10) Receive Quality of Training Evaluation reports and send them to the Leadership Council. ENGLISH VERSION 5 a) What is the best way to arrange people during a Small Group meeting? A small circle is the best. Don’t have a table because it creates barriers between people. Don’t have a chair and a large seat for the most important person. In TIST, we all sit the same way. We either all sit on the ground, or we all sit on chairs. b) What do you do if more than twelve people want to join your group? If there are more than twelve people interested in joining your group, it is best to form a new group. The group can multiply with three or four members of the original group form the core of the new group. This is better than one member trying to start a group alone. Remember to start using rotating leadership straight away. c) What techniques can you use if the group energy is low? Split up the group into pairs and get each pair to talk about the task. Dramas also help. Sometimes stopping and each person saying something good that their group is doing can also motivate people again. Also remember to keep the meeting from becoming too long. By having a co-leader who is keeping time, you can focus the group’s energy to making sure the work gets done in the agreed upon time period. Meeting Schedule. To manage time well, a Small Group should have a well-organized meeting schedule. This is important because it will help you keep focus on your agenda and the most important activities. It is also important because in TIST, we commit to work together for the long-term to grow and maintain our trees for the carbon market. We need to know our fellow Small Group members well, since each person’s actions impact our whole group and all of TIST.
It is important, too, for your Small Group to have regular meetings, preferably once a week or once in two weeks. This will give all members in your group an opportunity to strengthen your group, practice their leadership abilities and share and learn new ideas. During your meeting, it is necessary to focus on important issues. Many TIST Small Groups have found the process below as a best practice for successful meetings: Step I. Greetings and introductions for any new members (5 – 15 minutes): Make sure everyone feels welcomed. Make it brief but let each person introduce him or herself. Step II. Opening prayer (2 minutes): A short word of prayer can help the group unite. Step III. Songs (5 minutes): These could be songs written by your group, or songs that encourage people such as religious songs. Step IV. Agreement on task and time (5 minutes): The meeting’s leader explains what was planned for the meeting and the group members discuss and then agree on what the agenda should be. The time spent on each task or discussion should be agreed so that the co-leader can help keep the meeting on time. Step V. Group work on tasks (1 hour): Ideally, tasks should have been discussed at the end of the last meeting. Tasks might include sharing what each person has done to help TIST activities, sharing best practices, training on some subject of interest, and any other important issue that will help your Small Group to prosper. Step VI. Kujengana (5 minutes): Each group member makes one positive, specific statement to that week’s leader about his or her observable leadership of the meeting. In addition, anyone may identify a gift seen in the leader. Step VII. Closing prayer (2 minutes) Small Group Techniques: Group interaction. ENGLISH VERSION 6 We are very proud that almost all TIST members are following the TIST Values and living by the contract that they signed. Very few TIST members have broken the contract, clear cut their trees, and sold them for other uses. The purpose of having regular thinning is to achieve maximum growth and value of the trees that are left standing. The cuttings also provide firewood, poles, building materials, and other benefits directly to the TIST participant. That is the reason that we have the policy of creating a sustainable forest by only harvesting a maximum of 5% of the trees per year, after the trees are 10 years old. When an occasional TIST member decides to clear cut their grove, they harm all the rest of the TIST members in their Small Group, in their Cluster and in all of Kenya. The actions of very few people can cause problems for everyone. We expect other Small Group members and members of the Cluster to pay attention and make sure that no one cuts trees before they are supposed to. The OLC is going to work with some of the participants who made a mistake and cut the trees to work out a proper plan for those people to reinvest some of their profits into the TIST Program so they are able to help other farmers rather than hurt them. Many of them are also replanting trees in that grove. When we signed the GhG Agreement, we committed to maintain the trees we plant for TIST to let them grow for 30 years before harvest. This is one reason it’s so important to think carefully about what kinds of trees we want to grow on our farms. Thinning and pruning can help keep trees healthy and provide useful products while the trees grow. The purpose of thinning and pruning trees is to improve individual tree health, as well as overall forest health. This is done by protecting the “best” trees in the forest and thinning the others. For many species like grevillea, eucalyptus and cypress, the trees to thin around are the largest trees, each with a single, straight stem. Trees may have different needs for space depending on species, site,
planting style (woodlot, incorporated into crop fields, or windbreak), and climate, but some general principles apply. To grow strong, healthy trees, a spacing of two meters or more is recommended. This spacing works for many TIST trees (i.e. grevillea and cypress), but remember some trees require more space like mango and macadamia. Giving trees proper spacing helps them get enough water and nutrients to grow to their full potential. Closer spacing is acceptable when trees are young. As the trees begin to mature, some trees will be larger and more robust than their neighbors.These are the trees that should be kept. In determining which trees should be removed, look at the best trees and determine if they are appropriately spaced. If they are not, you should remove some nearby trees. When making thinning choices, remember that growth rate varies greatly by species. If a mango tree is growing near lots of eucalyptus, the mango may be far smaller and slower growing than the fast-growing eucalyptus, but it certainly should not be cut simply because it is smaller! A mango tree is of great importance due to its usefulness in producing fruit for food and sale. And, eucalyptus can actually hurt the production of crops near it. Best Practices while Thinning
• Allow crop trees to grow to maturity
• Maintain your tree grove for a minimum of 30 years, better yet is 60 years
• Thin to proper stocking (number of trees per acre). In TIST, we can select up to 5% of our trees, after 10 years, thinning by selecting as they grow, and providing income.
• Remove dying, diseased, decaying, and poor quality trees
• Protect trees from logging damage
• Use low-impact logging methods
• Promote tree species diversity
• Monitor your forest for insect and disease outbreaks
• Cooperate with government agencies in controlling forest insect and disease outbreaks
• Prevent wild fire Thinning your trees for successful growth — avoid clear-cutting! DO NOT do this Clear cutting DO THIS Single tree selection