Eucalypts, (commonly called gums) have received a bad press, often from eminent people such as Wangari Maathai, who have painted them as the villains of the tree world, attributing all kinds of disasters to them; most particularly the drying of rivers and reducing the fertility of the soil. Such opinions are not founded on fact.

All trees need water to grow; and there is evidence that the fertility of the soils on which gums have been for fifty years is as good as when they were planted. The gum uses the water more efficiently than other trees and produces more volume per hectare per year than any other commercial tree. The tree is used for firewood (by all the smallholder tea factories); for power transmission poles, timber, chipboard, medium density fibreboard and veneer. It is vastly more productive than pine or cypress. The growing of gums should be encouraged.

Friends of Mau Watershed understands just what Good Husbandry means and insists that the Guidelines are followed. That way success is ensured. Since 2004 Fomawa has been working with schools around the Mau with a project titled “Growing Trees with Communities in Schools”. This has been a success. It has demonstrated to all involved with the schools just what Best Practice means. Many farmers associated with the schools have seen that growing gums can be a good investment if it is done in the way promoted by Fomawa. Fomawa is continuing with this work in 2020. The documentary, and the article in Swara, the magazine of the East African Wildlife Society tells a fuller story.