VNGPS has a small tree nursery capable of producing 3,000 tree saplings every 6 months. After the construction of the community farm in Fonde Elimane, the next step will be to plant all 3,000 trees and to then expand the tree nursery to be able to produce 8,000-14,000 tree saplings every 6 months. Eventually, in August, the new harvest of tree saplings will be ready to plant. 

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How are the trees planted and maintained? Each tree sapling planted has a tree sponsor who requests the tree and vows to take care of the tree until maturity. The tree sponsors own the tree and are entitled to all of its fruit. Most tree sponsors are individual families, but they also include schools, businesses and Mosques. VNGPS is a large network of volunteers that stretches across many villages and towns across 200 miles of Senegal’s Sahel region. Each village where trees are planted has at least one VNGPS volunteer. These volunteers routinely check the status of every tree planted to make sure that the tree sponsors are actually taking care of the trees. If they are not, then they dig up the tree sapling and give it to someone else. The trees are planted during organized “planting days”, where the tree saplings are transported to other towns and villages to be planted by VNGPS volunteers. The entire process is very efficient.