This is the Indigenous Trees for Life Programme, a livelihoods programme that helps poor township and rural communities. Facilitators teach individuals in these communities how to grow indigenous trees from seed and care for the plants until they reach a certain height. These individuals are referred to as “tree-preneurs.” The trees are then traded at “tree stores” for food, clothes, bicycles, agricultural goods and tools, school and university fees and then either planted back into the communities or planted out in forest restoration projects.
Richard Mabaso, Project manager for Indigenous Trees for Life in Vosloorus, has seen the project develop this year.
“At the August 2009 tree store, tree-preneurs traded R 2000 worth of goods – that equates to 800 seedlings grown and exchanged for credit notes. There is another tree store in January and we expect the value of goods traded to be in the region of R 5000. The interest is growing all the time and with it comes the trees.”
The Vosloorus Indigenous Trees for Life project is the first such project to be established in Gauteng. Unilever South Africa has partnered with the Wildlands Conservation Trust on projects for many years, including funding the Indigenous Trees for Life Programme in a number of communities. As part of their commitment to supporting local vulnerable communities where they operate, in 2004 Unilever established a Thokomala Home in the Vosloorus Community, a township close to their Boksburg Factory. Thokomala homes are community family homes for children orphaned by HIV and Aids, a project originally founded by Unilever and since 2005 operating as an independent section-21 company. By way of increasing the developmental impact on the community even further, Unilever requested that the Vosloorus Thokomala home be used as the starting point to establish a tree growing project and to roll it out within the community.
Sihle Duma is a nine-year-old grade two learner and lives in the Thokomala home in Vosloorus: “in April this year Gugu joined us at Thokomala and I was forced to share my clothes with him, but thanks to growing trees I managed to buy my own clothes”.
Sihle is now encouraging Gugu to grow trees so that he can be able to buy his own clothes during the next tree store. In October a tree-preneur from Kwa-Zulu Natal passed her driver’s license after using her “tree credits” to buy driving lessons.
Louise Duys from Unilever South Africa said “The children of the Thokomala homes have embraced the opportunity to grow trees, and now buy themselves clothes and food, and the rest of the community have seen this and are taking up the challenge.”
Elizabeth Marule, foster mother at the Thokomala home, “This project teaches the children independence and it has undoubtedly enhanced our knowledge of planting and caring for trees.”
WILDTRUST (registered as the Wildlands Conservation Trust - IT No: 4329/1991/PMB)