What our first 31,000 trees taught us about dryland planting

In our first two years, about one in three seedlings survived the dry months. Today it is closer to four in five. The difference was not luck.

We moved from planting in neat rows to planting along contour lines, with a shallow basin for every seedling to catch rain, and mulch from cleared brush to hold it in.

We also shifted species. Native acacias and Commiphora handled drought best, while fast-growing introductions like Melia volkensii were reserved for the lower slopes where there is more moisture.

All plots are recorded in our open registry so researchers can check our numbers.