On the 9th of April almost 100 volunteers, including Stellenbosch Executive Mayor Conrad Sidego and Councilor Pietman Retief, gathered along the banks of the Plankenbrug River to take part in a Tree-a-thon which aims to contribute significantly to the rehabilitation and restoration of this seriously degraded water source.
“Wildlands Conservation Trust and the Stellenbosch Million Trees Project signed a Memorandum of Agreement in September 2013 and have a successful partnership aimed at greening and restoring the ecosystems that underwrite the health and livelihood of communities that fall within the Stellenbosch Municipal boundaries,” said Director of Partnerships, Marketing & Sustainability at Wildlands, Louise Duys. “Klapmuts received more than 1000 indigenous trees during last year’s tree planting marathon and another 1000 trees, grown by Wildland’s Tree-preneurs, were planted today – at the foot of the Papegaaiberg along the Plankenbrug River.”
Both the Papegaaiberg Nature Reserve and the Plankenbrug River and its tributaries perform an important function as part of an integrated group of ecosystems that determine the health of the entire catchment and is a core conservation area of the biosphere reserve. It is for this reason that this area has been chosen by Wildlands to focus the efforts of its Greening Your Future team where twenty individuals from the local Kayamandi community, employed through the DEA NRM Land User Incentive Scheme II programme, have been tasked with restoring the area back to its original state.
The Tree-a-thon will make a major contribution towards the reforestation of the riparian zone of the Plankenbrug River and Papegaaiberg Nature Reserve, right in the heart of Stellenbosch’s industrial area. The removal of invasive species will contribute to higher water flow and indigenous trees will suppress invasive alien plant growth, all vital components of river restoration.
The volunteers that gave up their day to contribute to this worthy cause included – staff from Remgro, Spier, PSG, Distell and Reliance (who also donated compost). Volunteers also arrived from the UNASA Stellenbosch Chapter, Greenpop and Eco-maties, while Chill Beverages and Engel and Volkers staff generously sponsored water and cold drinks to maintain the energy levels of the planters during the scorching hot day!
Heidi Newton-King (Sustainability Director at Spier) said: “Sometimes issues and concerns seem daunting but when everyone pulls together through partnerships and collaboration, many things are possible.”
“PSG is pleased to have supported the Wildlands Tree-preneurs initiative. Not only is the initiative in itself commendable, but we also believe that we share the same objective of growing and preserving wealth,” commented Lerato Motang (Marketing Project Manager for PSG).
Distells’ Sonja Morkel (Social Investment Controller) said: “It has been great to participate in a day where so many stakeholders; companies, government representatives, students and NGO’s have come together for the greater good in the area in which we do business.”
“It was great for our staff to be involved in the Tree-a-thon yet again this year. We believe that it is a good initiative and it is amazing to be able to give back to our communities,” said Cheryl Farao (Community Project Manager) of Remgro.
“The compost we are using today was in fact recycled from green waste, from the city of Cape Town and Stellenbosch, and we are all using it to plant a greener future!” said Jana Cilliers (Marketing Coordinator at Reliance)
Greenpop, Ecomaties and UNASA (Stellenbosch) refer to themselves as “young people having fun planting trees!”
Matthew Koehorst of Greenpop said: “Greenpop is about reconnecting people with people and people with their Earth. We plant trees and have fun while we do it!”
Alida Visser (UNASA) “The United Nations Association of South Africa (UNASA) – Stellenbosch Chapter is a student society that focuses on the practical application of the UN’s objectives and the sustainable development goals in our local community,” commented Alida Visser of UNASA. “UNASA Stellenbosch participated in the 2014 Tree-a-thon and we are excited to be supporting this initiative again in 2015!”
“It is important to remember that this all started with the million trees vision of the Executive Mayor Conrad Sidego,” said Duys. “He has also been a consistent contributor to the cause, not afraid to get his hands dirty and enthusiastic about helping Wildlands build a sustainable model for these areas.”
“This is a repeat performance of last year’s 1000 tree planting exercise in Klapmuts, Let us set a 50,000 goal for the next tree-a-thon,” said the passionate Executive Mayor Conrad Sidego. “This can be the next, achievable, step in reaching our one million tree goal. We can gain momentum by tackling this task in increments like this. With an army like we have to here today, 50,000 trees is possible! This movement must move from GREAT to REMARKABLE as a result of its cumulative impact. This Million Tree movement must impact the community members in Stellenbosch. Our people do not deserve to live in an undignified manner. Thank you to Wildlands and all the corporates who have gathered here today to play their part as a corporate citizen. Let us plant 1000 green statues of hope today.”
“None of this would have been possible without the support of local corporates, the Stellenbosch Municipality and our hard working staff. Thank you for your time, passion and tree planting skills,” concluded Louise Duys of Wildlands.