This is the tale of the ecological transformation of a five-hundred-acre “wasteland” created by twenty years of quarrying for the underlying corral limestone and shale on the Kenya coast, not far from Mombasa. This land had been quarried by a cement company to within less than an inch of the brackish water below and created a monstrous lunar-like scar on the landscape. It was barren, desolate, and exposed to the hot tropical sun; it seemed that no form of vegetation could possibly grow there.

The fact that it was eventually transformed into lush forest and grassland is remarkable in itself, but that the project was initiated in 1971 not by a group of concerned environmentalists, but by the company that had inflicted the devastation, the Bamburi Portland Cement Company, makes it even more remarkable. It was made possible by the vision and persistence of two remarkable men, Dr. Felix Mandl and Rene Haller.

Back in 1971, reclamation of industrial wasteland was unheard of in the developing world (indeed, it was unheard of—or unheeded—in most parts of the industrialized world as well). Certainly in Kenya there was no environmental law that forced companies to rehabilitate exploited land. But the Bamburi had an unusual director. Felix Mandl had started the cement factory in 1951, and despite being told that such a project was doomed to failure, he built up a very successful business. So much so that each year more and more raw materials were needed to fulfill incoming orders. And as the great machines went about their business, the area of devastation grew ever larger, a great ugly scar spreading over the surface of the land.

Felix Mandl began to hate the ugliness. It was all because of his entrepreneurial flair that that it existed, and he made up his mind to heal the land. If you look at photographs of the quarry in the late 1960s, you wonder that anyone could have had the vision to imagine change, and the determination to made it happen. The fact that it did was due to the vision, patience, and skill of Rene Haller.

Rene had been working for the cement company as an agronomist when he was commissioned by the company to attempt this seemingly impossible task. He described the situation when he began. “The ugly wasteland expanded annually by ten thousands of square meters. It was appalling to note that even in the oldest parts of the quarry no plants had been able to establish themselves. I spent countless agonizing hours in the hot and dusty barren land, found a few ferns and perhaps half a dozen tiny bushes and grasses which were struggling to take root, sheltering behind some of the remaining rocks. It was hardly an encouraging environment for tree planting.”

But one day, he discovered in a remote part of the quarry five small casuarina trees and two date palms. “Finally, I found some life, which inspired me—a glimmer of hope, giving a direction which might be worthwhile following.”

Rene obtained many casuarina seedlings (it is a tree originally from Australia, now found in many African coastal areas) and began to plant them. These trees are specially adapted to grow in severe conditions, with needle-like leaves that help prevent water loss and a high tolerance for salty water. He also tried twenty-five other different kinds of saplings in addition to the casuarinas, but only two other species survived—the “damas,” a salt-tolerant tree from the coast of Somalia; and the coconut palm. Now he had his pioneers—the first tentative step toward the vision had been taken.

If We Listen, Nature Will Provide Solutions
But after ten months, something went wrong—the casuarina saplings began to look increasingly unhealthy, their foliage becoming yellow. From the very beginning of the project, Rene had held the firm belief that, if he looked hard enough, nature would provide the solutions to all his problems. So he visited the wild casuarinas, hoping they would teach him what he was doing wrong. Sure enough, when he examined the root system of these trees, he found fruit-like nodules and dense hair root structures growing among the feeder roots. There was nothing like this on the roots of his saplings. Subsequently he found that these nodules contain microorganisms living in remarkable symbiosis with the host tree. One of these is able to fix atmospheric nitrogen: It exchanges nitrogen for the sugar it needs, which is created by the tree during photosynthesis. Rene took a “selected cocktail of roots and soil” from the wild trees and dug it in around his sick casuarinas. In just a few months they recovered, and never looked back.

All of Rene’s pioneers were evergreens, constantly dropping their needles and leaves on the barren rocky ground. But the tannin in these leaves made it difficult for the microbes to break them down into humus—and without humus, little else would grow. Again, Rene’s attention to nature helped solve the problem. He noticed a millipede—that beautiful shiny black creature about eight inches long with hundreds of bright red legs, known locally as a Mombasa train—contentedly feeding on dry casuarina needles. He realized that the droppings of millipedes would be material for conversion into the much-needed humus. He organized the collection of hundreds of millipedes from the coastal bush and freed them in his casuarina forest. This was extremely successful: The millipedes, with the forest floor to themselves, multiplied fast. The leaf litter was rapidly reduced and a layer of rich humus built up below.

“My few tiny casuarina trees,” wrote Rene, “grew within a few years into a dark green grove in the extensive barren moonscape of the quarry . . . There was a feeling of satisfaction that part of the former desert wasteland had been converted into a life-supporting little forest.” But now there was yet another problem to solve.

“The dense shade of the casuarina forest, inhibiting the growth of other plant species, began to worry me. My vision was to establish a multitude of plants, providing food and shelter to a large variety of animals. I could find nothing in the literature about natural plant associations with casuarinas and was too impatient for a long-term methodical research project. Therefore, I decided to collect all suitable kinds of grass, bush and trees seeds, and scatter them in the casuarina grove to observe if anything would grow.”

And gradually other plant life established itself. After five years, about 112 acres of the quarry were planted. The casuarinas had started self-seeding, colonizing the surrounding quarry. After ten years, some of them were ninety feet tall. After twenty-six years, some of the conocarpus trees had a trunk circumference of eight feet and the humus layer was four inches deep. The casuarina pioneers had a shallow root system, dictated by the corral rock bed, and with increasing frequency they were blown over in storms. But they had accomplished their task and created a friendly environment. The stage was set for many other kinds of vegetation.

Bees, Monkeys, Hippos: Every Being Plays a Role
Some of this arrived on its own in the normal recolonization process, but human intervention was necessary to create an ecologically and economically self-sustaining forest. Rene selected the second generation of forest plants carefully, introducing many of the species of the original coastal forest.

And so the greening continued. Monkeys, fruit bats, and a variety of bird species helped to disperse seeds from the various trees and shrubs, including a variety of fig trees, some of which help to conserve moisture in the soil. Rene’s forest also became a sanctuary for endangered species of coastal forest flora, including the slow-growing hardwoods. After ten years, well over 180 species of indigenous trees and bushes, orchids, ferns, liana, and dozens of herbs had been planted. Many have medicinal properties.

Gradually, more and more birds, mammals, and insects were attracted to this new wonderland. Different termite species set up home—they seldom caused problems, as there were so many creatures to prey on them and keep their numbers in check. Others were introduced slowly and carefully, as their impact—positive or negative—on the fragile new environment was assessed.

Eventually, Rene was able to introduce some of the larger mammals—including a couple of hippos. In one part of the quarry, a big pond had been created. It needed hippos to keep the water stirred up and to supply much-needed natural nutrients to the water, which they do by defecating in the water and breaking up the mass with vigorous wagging of their little tails. In fact, all animals have a special role: Sitatunga were introduced to control the fast expanding cattail reed beds along the banks where water had been restored; weaver ants to control scale insects and mealy bugs—it is a long list.

Now there are more than 30 species from the IUCN endangered list of species and the park has become a sanctuary for 30 species of mammals, 260 species of birds, and 30 kinds of butterflies. The park is self-sustaining: In addition to its recreational facilities for visitors, there are over forty different sources of income, including fish farming, beekeeping, tree nurseries, and many other sustainable agriculture and wildlife utilization practices. It has become a major environmental education center for Kenya, and is used by schools throughout the country as living proof that the rehabilitation of a human-made wasteland not only is possible, but can also be accomplished with sound organic principles.

Today the park is run by Lafarge Ecosystems while Rene continues to do what he loves and what he has such talent for—rehabilitate damaged environments along the coast around Mombasa. He does this through the Baobab Trust, a local charity that he founded in 1991, and the Haller Foundation, a UK-registered charity that he launched in 2004. And now, he told me, he is sharing his know-how with the communities living around the restored quarries, where farmers have been struggling to grow crops in the poor soils. Based on the same principles he has developed to rehabilitate the quarries, his program educates and trains the villagers about ways to restore vitality to their farmland, providing water, and cultivating their crops in a sustainable way. And they and their children are gaining a better understanding of and appreciation for the symbiotic relationship between themselves, the land that sustains them and nature’s wildlife.