Sharing lessons, sharing cultures and working for the environment

Six Luphisi residents attended the Wildlands Conservation Trust Facilitators Indaba held in St Lucia in KwaZulu Natal recently.

The conservation NGO the held a five day conference for the staff of its Indigenous Trees for Life Programme, and Luphisi project facilitators Thulisiwe Mohale, Martha Mhlongo, Hleziphi Nkosi, Mandla Mdluli and Thubelihle Mgwambi travelled to Futululu Park near St Lucia to join their colleagues. Sipho Ngwenya, the project’s nursery caretaker, also attended.

The Indigenous Trees for Life Programme is a livelihoods programme creating opportunities for poor communities to grow trees and exchange them for goods and there are now 23 such projects across KwaZulu Natal, Gauteng , the Western Cape and Mpumalanga.

The Luphisi project started in October 2008, and over 280 “tree-preneurs” now grow indigenous trees here with the help of these five dedicated facilitators. Hlengiwe Mthembu has recently been appointed the new project manager for Luphisi’s Indigenous Trees for Life and said she enjoyed seeing this group build confidence as a team by attending the capacity building event.

“The Luphisi facilitators were able to grow their skills and learn from other more experienced teams, and also spend time as a team developing plans for how to grow the project in their community,” she said.

The ITFL Programme started in KwaZulu Natal and twenty of the projects are based there. After Zulu dancing and a play entitled “Legends of the iMfolozi” was performed, the over eighty staff members erupted in cheering and dancing in reaction to a Swazi dance display by the Luphisi visitors.

Martha Mhlongo, facilitator for Luphisi Indigenous Trees for Life, said: “We are Swazi and we wanted to share some of our culture with our colleagues. It was a surprise, and we were very happy with how we were received. We so enjoyed sharing with our colleagues and learning new ways of how to run the projects to benefit our community,” she said.

Picture:  The Luphisi Indigenous Trees for Life Facilitators performed a Swazi dance for the Wildlands Conservation Trust staff at their Facilitators Indaba held at Futululu Park near St Lucia recently.

Picture taken by: Manqoba Sabela/ Wildlands Conservation Trust

Supporting livelihoods, supporting conservation in Northern Zululand

Mr Johnson Myeni lives in KwaNdaba and has recently traded 500 of the indigenous trees growing in his back yard for groceries, a hosepipe and some bags of cement. Mr Myeni is a tree-preneur with the Indigenous Trees for Life project and he has over 2500 trees at his home.

This project is run by the conservation NGO the Wildlands Conservation Trust and started in the Tembe area in 2008, where there are now over 250 “tree-preneurs” from the Bhekabantu, KwaNdaba, Sicabazini and Phelandaba communities.

Facilitators find needy people in the community and teach them how to grow trees from seed and how to nurture them until they grow to a certain height. The trees can then be traded back to Wildlands for goods such as groceries, school books, stationery and uniforms, bicycles, Jojo tanks, and other goods such as wheelbarrows and cement for building.

Wildlands first started the project near Mkhuze in 2004, and in 2008 Wildlands saw the opportunity for the project to thrive in the Tembe area, where unemployment is very high. Mr December Matenjwa, Project Manager of Indigenous Trees for Life in the Teme area said: “This project helps our community as most of the tree-preneurs and their families are unemployed, so it brings food and creates a hope for the future, of perhaps sending the children for further education. He explained that many local people make crafts for sale to tourists that visit the area using natural resources such as the Ilala Palm.

Dr Roelie Kloppers is the manager of the Conservation SPACE Programme, another of the Wildlands Conservation Trust’s Programmes. “We believe in an integrated approach to conservation and development and realise that poor rural communities with limited access to resources and economic opportunities cannot be expected to conserve large tracts of wild lands if their survival depends on the use of the natural resources in these areas”, said Kloppers.

“However, if we can create sustainable communities living on the buffers of the conservation areas, we can limit the pressure on the conservation areas and at the same time improve rural livelihoods. Indigenous Trees for Life, and similar livelihoods projects and programmes are therefore essential in supporting our conservation aims and ensuring an integrated and sustainable conservation and development model.”
The Wildlands Conservation Trust is therefore using funding from its Conservation SPACE Programme to implement the Indigenous Trees for Life Project in this area.

Many of the tree-preneurs are learners and have purchased bicycles for transport to school. At the most recent tree store,  the market place set up by Wildlands for trading trees for goods, Mr Myeni and his wife Nomazulu exchanged 200 of their trees for cement, and now hope to add on to their one-roomed home.

Picture:  Mr Johnson Myeni from KwaNdaba has 2500 indigenous trees growing in his backyard. He recently traded 500 of these trees for groceries, a hosepipe and some bags of cement. Mr Myeni is a tree-preneur with the Indigenous Trees for Life.

Picture taken by :  December Matenjwa / Wildlands Conservation Trust

Art boosts conservation efforts in KZN

Local non-profit organisation, the Wildlands Conservation Trust raised just under R400 000 at an art auction and gala dinner held at Sibaya Casino and Entertainment Kingdom this past weekend. The tally included the auction of donated art pieces, pledges made by guests on the night and a percentage of art sales on the exhibition. Three hundred and fifty of Wildlands’ corporate and private partner communities made up the guest list.

The evening kicked off with an introduction from the CEO, Dr Andrew Venter, and the launching of a new programme, evolving out of the well-know Indigenous Trees for Life initiative.  Sustainable Communities encapsulates the concepts of growing trees and collecting waste, trading these for food, clothes, education and other goods and then building on the capacity of motivated individuals by developing their entrepreneurial abilities.  The Trust works with over 3500 individuals from some of South Africa’s poorest communities, growing hundreds of thousands of trees a year.

A moving audio-visual was also presented on one of the Trusts signature programmes Conservation SPACE – aimed at working with communities to expand and link areas under conservation. ‘The Somkhanda Story’ reflected on the long journey of the Gumbi Community in Northern KwaZulu-Natal to create what is today an operational reserve, awaiting proclamation, that belongs to the Gumbi’s themselves.

In between the 5-course meal, guests enjoyed some lively entertainment from The George Mari Band and an entertaining and fruitful auction led by Graeme Hawkins, which fetched an amazing R250 000 for Wildlands.  All 21 art pieces were donated by the artists.  Sarah Richards delightful ‘Chameleon’ bronze sculpture fetched the highest price on the night selling for R28 000.

Wildlands Chairman, Andre Schoeman ended off the evening with a round of thanks and 7 of the Trusts biggest donors were given paintings by well-known local artist Maureen Edgecumbe in recognition of their contribution to the organisation.  These included: the Bonitas Medical Fund, also the sponsor of the evening, Unilever, Rand Merchant Bank, Richards Bay Minerals, BHP Billiton, Jojo and Masscash.

Top selling artists on the night included Leon Fouche, Sarah Richards, Bev Letard, Maureen Edgecumbe, Coral Spencer Domijan, Nicky Chovuchovu, and Chris Reabow.