While climate change rages on globally, and with the latest floods in South Africa severely affecting several communities in the Cape Town area this time around, many sit shaking their heads at those destroying the Amazon forests and at global industry sectors which, for material greed, are not reducing their carbon emissions quickly enough, making people wonder “why somebody isn’t doing anything about it.” But today’s youth are already stepping in to take positive action against deforestation by actively re-foresting across the country.
That trees are a necessity for human survival on this planet is a given. This is why Standard spoke to leading eco-activists on the Garden Route, Cape Town and in the Breede Valley, who are dedicated to two important goals – assisting reforestation and providing jobs for youth.
Passionate about restoring indigenous trees along the Garden Route after earlier forest fires, Ray Nolan jumped into the gap and took immediate restorative action by founding an NPO called the Precious Tree Project, and immediately began replanting the region’s “precious” trees with the help of local youth and the admin support of Melissa Dalton.
From the long list of trees indigenous to the area perhaps the best known are the wild olive, camphor bush, the Outeniqua yellowood, forest elder and keurboom.
Importance of trees
Says Ray: “Trees play a vital role in our survival. In rural areas they feed our rivers, help to regulate the impact of storms and floods, harbour biologically diverse eco-systems, provide shelter, jobs, building materials and security for forest-dependant populations.
And in our cities they clean the air by absorbing carbon dioxide, purify the water we need for drinking and growing our food, regulate temperatures, and provide shade. While in parks and gardens they offer a healing and relaxing environment for mental, emotional and spiritual well-being, and in some cases have medicinal value
“And perhaps most importantly at this time they produce oxygen as they grow and mature, helping to offset climate change by reducing greenhouse gases, which cause global warming and cater in all ways to the future of life on this planet.
“Any indigenous, endemic tree, of carefully chosen genetic material that is planted, is beneficial to the entire planet, no matter where it is planted. This is exponentially more so when pockets of forest trees are planted together.”
Green Festivals for youth
Based in Cape Town, Misha Teasdale, co-founder and CEO of Greenpop, and an implementing partner of the United Nations Decade of Ecosystem Restoration, agrees, saying “restoring degraded landscapes has never been more important to prolonging life on earth than it is now.”
Towards creating positive awareness of the need for everyone to get involved, especially youth, Misha organises green festivals for all to enjoy and actively participate in. The next being the Eden Festival of Action 2022 to be held in October on the Garden Route.
Issuing an invitation to the Breede Valley’s youth “greenies” to participate in the seven-day sustainability experience, Misha describes it as a week of educational fun and sustainable goodness – an environmental action gathering, combining practical ecosystem restoration work with a full line-up of workshops, talks and activities from sustainability experts.
The programme schedule includes talk shops and participatory workshops ranging from permaculture, wild food foraging, ecosystem restoration and alien clearing, to biomimicry, natural building, tree planting, mural painting, mycology, wellness activities, herbalism and plant-based foods.
Early mornings and free days include yoga, forest and beach hikes, bike rides, and discovering the local river systems and lagoon. While the evenings will be filled with campfire sessions, storytelling and music from some of South Africa’s finest musicians.
At last year’s festival 1 000 indigenous trees were planted in one week, which included over 35 species, such as Yellowwood, Keurboom, Cape Beech, Ironwood, False Ash, Cape Olive and many more.
In April next year a reforestation festival will be held in the Overstrand region where it is planned to plant 5 000 trees.
Breede River reforestation and youth involvement
In the Breede Valley region, a wide-scale reforestation operation is taking place along the Breede River between Ceres and Worcester where, with the co-operation of farmers, trees are being planted at the approximate rate of 60 ha per year. The goal being to plant 100 000 trees every year.
Says Rudolph Roscher, Manager of the Western Cape Department of Agriculture, who is behind the project: “Like engineering and water infrastructures in town and country, we also need to look at the ecological infrastructures of our mountain catchments, river catchments, and wetlands, to maintain a healthy state so that these areas can continue to provide the balanced eco system services that are key to human survival.
“The quality and quantity of our water supplies is also essential for food production and for farming production across the board.
“But important to the success of the project is the participation of our youth, as agriculture is the biggest employer of youth in the Breede Valley region. So raising awareness among youth in the field of agriculture is one of the department’s primary concerns.”
France steps in to fund project
Managing the project is Ryno Pienaar who, on behalf of the Breedekloof Wine and Tourism (BWT), is responsible for managing environmental projects and liaising funding from the private sector and state towards restoration and reforestation projects in the region.
“In this case, the Breede River reforestation project is funded by a French B Corp certified company called Reforest’Action,” he explains.
“BWT has a nursery in Worcester at the Western Cape Department of Agriculture offices, where we employ four young people, three of whom are from the Change Makers programme. Intaba, a Tulbagh-based environmental service also subcontracted by BWT for specialist botany services, which includes plant and tree propagation for the project.
“Among us we employ about 30 people throughout the year on the project, most of whom are under 35. They work in teams on the ground, propagating and planting plants on rehabilitation sites in the Berg and Breede rivers.”
How farmers can help
With the support of the Western Cape Department of Agriculture’s LandCare sub-programme and funding from Reforest’Action, Breedekloof Wine and Tourism is planting indigenous trees to create forest patches on private land in the Breede and Berg River Catchments.
Sadly, due to the invasion of woody alien plants and the subsequent unnatural fire regimes, many of the majestic indigenous trees that first populated the forested banks of the Breede River, such as the Breede River Yellow Wood, Wild Olive, and Wild Almond, to name a few, have all but disappeared.
But the reintroductions of these indigenous trees will improve the functional diversity of the riparian areas in question, to enable the system to reach the level of ecological resilience required to persevere on its own.
The project has undertaken to supply all the trees and carry the associated costs to harvest seed, and grow and plant the trees on the farmland zoned for the purposes. A project manager will monitor the site in partnership with the landowner.
But the landowner needs to contribute a fee, as well as any main line and associated connections that may be required to irrigate the 5 000 hectare sites on each farm in order to plant a minimum of 2 500 trees per site.
V All landowners who would be interested in participating in the project can email the Breedekloof Wine and Tourism route at Ryno.Pienaar@westerncape.gov.za
How we can all help
But looking after our planet shouldn’t just be left to the “experts” and those in-the-know, “Everyone, young and old, can help in some way”, says Carlize Frey, who in the middle of Covid-19 decided to take over a respected Worcester nursery that was looking for a caring new owner.
Believing our planet and Mother Nature should be respected, loved and cared for, Carlize says just planting a single “elephant bush” (Spekboom), even in the smallest garden or in a pot on our doorstep, is a positive way of helping “not only your own immediate environment but, if many people did it it could help your whole neighbourhood”.
Explains Carlize’s daughter Teniel, “the Spekboom, known also as Elephant Bush or Elephants Food, is a succulent plant indigenous to South Africa.. This well-known plant is prized for its ability to fight global warming by converting carbon dioxide into oxygen. It is also very drought-resistant.
These plants grow best in full sun, but the most important factor to take into consideration when planting is to ensure that the soil is well-draining. They can be planted in pots or directly in the garden, and they even make excellent Bonsai. Compost and fertiliser will increase the growth rate of the bush but is not essential.
And Elephant’s Food is edible! The leaves can be used in soups and salads. As the day progresses the flavour of the leaves change, becoming less acidic towards nightfall. So next time you’re in the garden try a Spekboom or elephant’s food leaf. (Just rinse it first!)
V To find out more or buy an elephant Bush, email Carlize at carlizefrey@gmail.com.
A youth team from Change Makers enjoyed training at one of the Breedekloof Wine and Tourism nurseries at the Western Cape Department of Agriculture’s offices in Worcester. Tree saplings are being planted for the purposes of reforestation along the Breede River between Ceres and Worcester.
Change Makers Worcester is a registered non-profit organisation which assists young men between the ages of 18-35 years to transform their lives from difficult circumstances they met with in their communities.
Plant production is one of the new courses that Change Makers has added to their programme. Some of the young men on the programme are developing their skills in agriculture at NID in Worcester.
