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Growth & operations

How the project runs day to day, and how it grows. Growth happens in stages, each opened by evidence the last one worked, not by a date. Day-to-day work has to stay light enough for two part-time people.

Phases and gates​

  • Start small (prove it): one modest site; get plantings established and learn. Gate: plantings surviving, basic systems working, funding and energy to continue.
  • Establish: consolidate, form the entity, build partnerships, settle a monitoring routine. Gate: stable operations and reliable funding.
  • Expand: more area or a second site. Gate: a proven model, the capacity to run more, and the money for it.
  • Institutionalise (optional): a larger operation with some staff and research output. Gate: sustained funding and real demand.

Expanding on excitement rather than evidence is how small projects overreach, and balancing growth with conservation is hard even at national scale (growth vs biodiversity, Africa, news). When a gate is met there is still a choice of direction — deepen in place, expand moderately, or scale up — and none is automatically right; it depends on capacity, funding, and the life you want.

Operating rhythm​

The work repeats on natural cycles; a simple calendar keeps it manageable.

  • Seasonal: planting in the local window, watering through the dry months, maintenance, seed collection.
  • Monitoring: survival checks and surveys on a fixed schedule.
  • Admin: bookkeeping and a budget check each month.
  • Communication: regular updates to supporters and partners.

Two part-time people cannot do everything at once. Match effort to the season, lean on volunteers for the heavy days, and decide in advance what gets dropped in a crunch — burnout is a bigger threat than most external risks. Tie decisions to the governance tiers: routine work on the spot, bigger commitments wait.