17 September 2011 Last updated at 12:13

In pictures: Size of Wales deforestation project

Deforestation of the Gazi mangroves in Kenya

The Size of Wales project aims to protect and sustain an area of tropical forest the size of Wales. The environmental charity WWF Cymru is helping to cut down on illegal logging and prevent deforestation through a series of local initiatives. Pictures: Nia Sterling/Waterloo Foundation

Warthog family at the Shimba Hills Reserve

With animals like warthogs, the coastal forests of the Kwale region in Kenya are very different to the sheep-grazed hills of Wales. Yet the future of threatened forests in east Africa could soon depend on the generosity of people such as those in Wales, who are being asked to take positive action and donate money to protect African rainforests

Nia Sterling meets members of the Lima community group

Size of Wales was founded by the Cardiff-based Waterloo Foundation. Representative Nia Sterling recently visited WWF projects in the Kwale district to see how Welsh donors' money is being spent. Here she is meeting members of the Lima community group, after seeing the herbal cosmetics they make

Members of the Gogoni Forest Conservation Group in their woodlot

The Gogoni Forest Conservation Group aims to support sustainable livelihoods. Trees are grown in a special "woodlot" to provide locals with an income and an alternative source of fuel so they do not need to extract it from the forest

Kwale region showing forested and deforested areas.

Forests in the Kwale region in Kenya are important to local people as a sustainable source of fuel, medicine and food and some forests, known as Kayas, are regarded as sacred. This picture shows forested and deforested areas in the Kwale district

Elias Kimaru, WWF project executive, in the WWF tree nursery where they grow 250 species of indigenous and coastal trees for local reforestation activities

The Gazi Women’s boardwalk in the mangroves is an eco-tourism project developed to generate income for local people, with profits poured back into the local community

The boundary of the Shimba hills reserve in Kenya shows a protected woodlot acting as a buffer zone between wildlife and human life and shows the extent of deforestation outside the park

Jatropha seeds grown by the Kaya Muhaka Forest Conservation Group. Oil from the seeds is used for fuel with jatropha waste used for briquettes and the plants acting as a windbreak on the farm

The Waterloo Foundation representatives got to glimpse how closely humans and animals co-exist in the rainforest.

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In pictures: Size of Wales deforestation project

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