Young indigenous people living in the Mwenga Territory are faced with the overexploitation and advanced degradation of community forests, and this is having a negative impact on indigenous populations in the sense that young indigenous people used to concentrate on foraging for edible caterpillars in the Mwenga Territory. At present, community forests are unfortunately overexploited, degraded, affected by climate change and deprived of their biodiversity.

To remedy this situation, the Young Indigenous Leaders for Nature and Climate (YILNAC Network) has set up a project to support young indigenous people in restoring community forests by restoring 260 hectares of traditional tree species and managing traditional trees rationally, through the training of 180 young indigenous people in the Mwenga Territory.

This project was supported by Climate Change Africa Opportinuties (CCAO).