Month: October 2011

Over 18 000 trees were planted during Arbour Week with the support of The Foschini Group (TFG) and Woolworths, kicking off the annual tree planting programme of the environmental NGO the Wildlands Conservation Trust.

Wildlands Indigenous Trees for Life Programme runs in 24 communities across the country, where indigenous trees are grown and exchanged for goods by adults and children in poor and vulnerable communities. Known as “tree-preneurs”, they trade the trees back to Wildlands once they reach a certain height, exchanging the trees for goods at Green Futures Stores, the market place set up by Wildlands for the purchase of food, clothes, building materials, water tanks, bicycles, amongst other items.

The trees are then planted back into the communities or into reforestation projects run by Wildlands. This year’s Arbour week planting took place within two of the KwaZulu-Natal projects of Indigenous Trees for Life, in the the Mzimela community which borders the Ngoye Forest near Mtunzini, and in the Zwenelisha community which borders the iSimangaliso Wetland Park near St Lucia. Tree-preneurs from the projects were contracted to do the planting.

Charmaine Veldman, Programme Manager for Indigenous Trees for Life, said that Arbour Week was a good launch pad for their annual programme of tree planting, with this year’s goal being to plant 500 000 trees across the country. “Companies like Foschini and Woolworths share in our vision of creating a sustainable future for all, and with their support we are able to set ambitious goals such as this for our tree planting for the year,” she said.

TFG supported the purchase and planting of 15 000 trees, each tree representing a TFG staff member, and they ran an in-house campaign to create awareness of environmental issues amongst their staff.

Karde Buys of the TFG said: “This year our aim was to off-set some of the carbon we produced as a business as well as to encourage our 15 000+ employees to take action to reduce their own carbon footprints. In addition, we have helped create additional short term employment for the tree-preneurs who will be planting and caring for these trees – this is great!”

Due South stores, the modern high-tech outdoor brand, also part of TFG, ran a further awareness campaign for their customers, giving away trees to 600 customers across their three flagship stores during Arbour week.

Woolworths supported the planting of 3000 trees. Justin Smith, Good business journey Manager at Woolworths said: “Woolworths is proud to work with Wildlands as their model brings community development and environmental issues together in a uniquely successful way. Woolworths is equally passionate about both of these aspects, as part of its Good business journey programme.”

Picture: Over 18 000 trees were planted by “tree-preneurs” during Arbour Week, kicking off the Wildlands Conservation Trust’s commitment to planting 500 000 in the next year.

Picture credit: Wildlands Conservation Trust

As part of the broader KZN Biodiversity Stewardship program being driven by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, the Wildlands Conservation Trust (Wildlands) has assisted in facilitating the proclamation of Usuthu Gorge as a new Protected Area. This step will ensure the conservation, in perpetuity, of 3000ha of prime northern KZN bushveld situated to the west of Ndumo and belonging to the Mathenjwa community.The community formed the Usuthu Trust, which has successfully claimed Ndumo Game Reserve, and now aims to incorporate Usuthu Gorge into the Ndumo reserve.

Natural migration

According to Wildlands Strategic Manager for Stewardship and Protected Area Expansion Kevin McCann, the incorporation provides for a much more natural seasonal migration path for the animals of Usuthu Gorge. “The extended area goes up into the Lebombo mountains, so it provides a natural altitude gradient. Usuthu has very little water in winter, but once the fences are dropped Usuthu animals will be able to move down into the Pongola floodplain in the dry season. This effectively recreates their historical Maputaland migration paths,” says McCann. “As temperature increases due to climate change, animals will have the ability to also gradually move higher into the mountains if required.”

The creation of a larger reserve creates further benefits of scale. For example, the Usuthu Gorge Nature Reserve management costs will be reduced, since man-made water points don’t need to be created in the gorge as a result of the access to the Pongola floodplain. “This is a result of collaborating with nature, rather than working against it by creating unnatural boundaries,” explains McCann.

Transfrontier Conservation Area

The final step in the proclamation process is for the Mathenjwa community, with the permission of the Ngonyama Trust (which manages some 2.7 million hectares on behalf of the Zulu King), to enter into an agreement with the KZN MEC for Agriculture, Environmental Affairs and Rural Development. By early 2012 the new reserve will be in place at which point Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, which already manages Ndumo, will drop the fences between the two land parcels. This will effectively make Usuthu Gorge part of the Transfrontier Conservation Area.

Plans to develop ecotourism facilities at Usuthu Gorge will focus on the area as a hunting destination, but could incorporate other tourism initiatives such as4x4 tracks and birding facilities. “Stewardship brings the land under formal protection, and gives landowners financial and non-financial rewards,” says McCann. “It costs money to manage a protected area. Wildlands brokers these kinds of deals in order to reduce the management costs to the landowner and unlock ways they can use it for a viable income. In Zululand that income typically comes from game farming and ecotourism.”

Community benefits

McCann points out that the proclamation has the dual benefits of protection for species and habitats, and allows economically viable conservation-related development. Benefits for the owners of protected areas include financial benefits such as:

• Exemption from property rates for those areas not used for housing or commercial operations;
• Fiscal incentives – reducing management costs incurred to manage the protected area (burning, road maintenance, fencing etc);
• A tax deduction of 10 percent of the purchase value of the land, every year for ten years after the purchase

Non-financial benefits include:

· Access to cost-free reserve management and business expertise, including experts from Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, the Department of Agriculture, Environmental Affairs and Rural Development, WWF, SANBI – CREW (Custodians of Rare and Endangered Wildflowers), SANBI Grasslands Programme, the Wildlands Conservation Trust;

• Possible game donations from Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife;
• Sites for Rhino range expansion;
• Field ranger, wildlife monitor and conservation manager training for members of the local community;
• Funding assistance to help cover the salaries of field rangers.

Wildlands is developing a formal partnership with Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife for them to take over the management of the extended reserve once the proclamation is final and the fence is dropped. This initiative forms part of Wildlands’ vision to create conservation corridors across the province, linking protected areas, improving the stewardship of the land and ensuring community benefit.

Photo Credit: Maryann Rivers-Moore

Fifteen year-old Moris Nkosi proudly holds the laptop he was able to purchase by trading in trees he grew as part of the Indigenous Trees for Life Programme in Luphisi
Photo credit: Hlengiwe Mthembu / Wildlands Conservation Trust

A Luphisi teenager has become the first “tree-preneur” to purchase a laptop computer by trading trees he had grown in the Indigenous Trees for Life Programme.

Moris Nkosi is fifteen and has propagated 5600 trees since the Indigenous Trees for Life project started in his community in 2008. He exchanged the trees at “green future stores” for goods such as food for his family, a bicycle, a dictionary, two wheelbarrows, and now, a brand new laptop.

Indigenous Trees for Life is part of a Sustainable Communities Programme run by conservation NGO The Wildlands Conservation Trust. The programme aims to support the transformation of marginalized peri-urban, squatter and rural communities through tree and vegetable growing projects, recycling, as well as creating the means for people to harvest rainwater and solar energy.
Indigenous Trees for Life is their flagship project and runs in over 24 communities across KwaZulu Natal, Gauteng, Mpumalanga and the Western Cape. Known as tree-preneurs, individuals are shown how to propagate trees from seed and care for them until they reach a certain height. The trees are then traded for groceries, clothing, school uniforms and other goods at stores set up by Wildlands called green future stores. Wildlands then plants the trees back into the community or into reforestation projects.
Funded by the Old Mutual Foundation, Luphisi Indigenous Trees for Life was the first project that Wildlands introduced to Mpumalanga. There are now 283 tree-preneurs and 55 289 trees have been grown since its inception R280 920 worth of goods has been traded in this community, making it an important contribution to households. The tree-preneurs in turn are learning about the value of trees to the environment and are supplying a large number of trees for planting into reforestation projects run by Wildlands.

Hlengiwe Mthembu, Project Manager for Luphisi’s Indigenous Trees for Life said “The impact of the project is apparent in Luphisi. There are hippo rollers and bicycles going down the street, and many children have new blue school bags on their backs. Moris is a tree-preneur who has taken the opportunity that the project has given him, and has just flown with it.”
Moris Nkosi set himself the goal of having a laptop, and saved up the credit for his trees in order to purchase it. He says he would like to be an electrical engineer one day, and it seems this young man achieves what he sets his mind to.

The Women in Environment Awards run by the Kwa-Zulu Natal Department of Environmental Affairs, Agriculture and Rural Development saw two Wildlands Conservation Trust staff members winning awards which will enable them to expand the work they are doing in conservation.

The awards honoured women for providing everyday solutions to environmental challenges at the grass roots levels of our society. The competition started at District level where women submitted entries accompanied by a business profile. Nokuthula Mdletshe and Buyisiwe Nxumalo were amongst other women from uThungulu District who were then entered in the Provincial competition. The cash prizes awarded in various categories will be used towards procurement of essential tools for their projects.

Buyisiwe Nxumalo won third prize in the category for Education and Awareness. She is a facilitator with the KwaMbonambi Indigenous Trees for Life project, where she coordinates a group of 82 “tree-preneurs”; adults and children growing indigenous trees from seed who then trade the trees for goods such as food, school uniforms, water tanks and other items. In doing this work, she is creating awareness of the need for indigenous trees in our environment, and teaching people how to make a “green living” through the growing and trading of trees.

Her cash prize of R 10 000 will be used for materials to build a big nursery to store the trees collected from her tree-preneurs. She currently has 105 000 indigenous trees needing storage until they are distributed for planting in forest and wetland restoration projects.

“I am mobilising the youth to plant indigenous trees, and I show them how trees make our land beautiful and clean our environment,” said Nxumalo.

Nokuthula Mdletshe won second prize in the category for Rehabilitation and Restoration, in recognition of her work with the Wildlands Conservation Trust’s Green Teams. Green Teams work clearing alien vegetation and planting indigenous trees in order to restore forests and wetlands.

Mdletshe’s team has helped restore many wetlands in the KwaMbonambi, Sokhulu and eSikhawini area and her team has planted many trees at Lake Nhlabane. Her cash prize of R 20 000 will also go towards building a nursery, where they will store trees for planting by the Green Teams and grow seedlings for the project.

“This award has made me realise how important my work is. I know that what we do matters, but to be nominated means that our work is being noticed and appreciated. Developing a business plan has shown me what I can do that I never thought possible before.” Mdletshe said.

The Wildlands Conservation Trust runs many environmental community development programmes in the Zululand region with their vision of a “Sustainable Future for All”. These passionate women make the projects the success stories they are.

Caption:

Buyisiwe Nxumalo of the Wildlands Conservation Trust won third prize in the category for Education and Awareness in the Women in Environment Awards run by the Kwa-Zulu Natal Department of Environmental Affairs, Agriculture and Rural Development.

Picture credit: Wildlands Conservation Trust