Thanks to support from Western Cape businesses Spier and PSG Konsult Corporate, KwaZulu Natal based conservation NGO the Wildlands Conservation Trust is extending its footprint into the Western Cape, with small beginnings in Kalkfontein, Delft, Kayamandi and Nyanga on the Cape Flats.
The Wildlands Conservation Trust’s primary concern is the effective conservation of biodiversity in Southern Africa. However, it recognizes that this is simply not possible whilst a significant proportion of South Africans live in conditions that do not afford them the luxury of appreciating this biodiversity.
Wildlands’ Sustainable Communities Programme aims to support the transformation of marginalized peri-urban, squatter and rural communities through recycling, tree and vegetable growing projects, as well as creating the means for people to harvest rainwater and solar energy.
Spier has made project management resources, a vehicle and office space available to the project, and PSG Konsult Corporate has supplied funding. Hans de Nysschen, PSG Konsult Corporate CEO said the company subscribes to the principle of broad based economic empowerment. “We believe that we have found the right partner in Wildlands to assist PSG in achieving these goals.”
“We are very excited about the true potential of the Indigenous Trees for Life programme, which has already proven to be very successful in many areas of the country, especially in KwaZulu Natal. Together with our local partners Spier, we hope to extend these successes into the rural areas of the Western Cape, and to make a difference to the lives of many.” He said.
Spier CEO, Andrew Milne, said, “The project is exciting as it engages local communities, offers benefits and helps the environment. Seeing the tree-preneurs’ passion for growing trees is inspiring and we’re confident that they will go from strength to strength.”
Lesley Joemat, a Spier employee, is the Project Manager for the Western Cape Indigenous Trees for Life project. She has 85 tree-preneurs across the four communities involved in the project and about 8000 trees are in different stages of growth at the moment. Many of the tree-preneurs are school learners, and over 50% are single parents needing to supplement their income or they are unemployed.
Augustyn Kock is seven years old and is in grade two at Kalkfontein Primary School. He has 100 trees growing in his back yard since starting growing trees from seed in September. He would like to buy a bicycle when he has grown enough trees to the correct height for trading. When asked why it is good to grow and plant trees, Augustyn said, “They give oxygen, give animals food, shade and living place.”
Charmaine Veldman, Sustainable Communities Manager for the Wildlands Conservation Trust said that Spier and PSG Konsult Corporate support had made it possible for Indigenous Trees for Life to take root in the Western Cape. “We have seen this project change lives in KwaZulu Natal, Gauteng and Mpumalanga, and we look forward to partnerships in the Western Cape that can build sustainable communities and impact lives positively while fostering a love for the environment.”
About Indigenous Trees for Life:
Indigenous Trees for Life runs in over 24 communities across KwaZulu Natal, Gauteng, Mpumalanga and now 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.
WILDTRUST (registered as the Wildlands Conservation Trust - IT No: 4329/1991/PMB)