We started working on a section of this Wildlife Corridor running through Libertas Guest Farm in the earlier part of 2021. Most of the “alien management” of the corridor running though the farm is undertaken by the landowners themselves, but the ongoing task of restoring lengthy tracks of land to its former natural glory can be an unrelenting challenge. The primary invasive species dominating the corridor are black wattle, lantana and bugweed. In addition to being invasive, these species are particularly fast-growers. As a prime wildlife corridor (and currently monitored with cameras by NMMU students), PTP jumped in to help clear the giant bugweed and to boost the reforestation process with endemic forest tree species that are great sources of food for the wildlife too.
A BIG thank you to Dr Morley for his tree-cycling project and FAGRON SA for the sponsorship of 75 endemic forest trees that we planted out.
Gifting a tree to a loved one as a birthday present, wedding gift or any other ceremonial and remembrance occasion is becoming more popular with our followers. Our ability to continuously assist with the ongoing reforestation of the Wilderness Heights Wildlife Corridor is a result of the support we receive every time you gift a tree in honour of your loved ones.
Lawaaikamp Creche is a small school for learners under the age of 5 years. Situated in Thembalethu in George, the creche, like most in the surrounds, is located in an area where employment levels are low and funding not easy to come by from the local community members. The crèche is continually in need of assistance and more often than not, is unable to afford the upkeep of the outdoor learning environment: the grounds are noticeably bare and absent of trees (for shade at the very least), the vegetable patch that was started early in 2021 is bare of produce and the rickety outdoor “jungle gym” is in need of repair.
We teamed up with local authorities to assist the school’s requirements for more trees around the ground and supplied the crèche with trees, indigenous tree seeds to germinate on-site and then plant out in the grounds over the course of the year using the planting method we demonstrated on the day. We also donated veggie seeds in order to help revive their vegetable garden.
Not only did we use the opportunity to raise awareness among these young learners about the importance of trees but to teach them about the importance of eating their vegetables too!
If you are able to assist with food seed contributions or help with the jungle gym, please contact Melissa on 084 490 8876.
South Africa celebrates Arbour Week annually in the first week of September. National Arbour Week, as most of us know, is that time of the year where South Africans – individuals and business alike – are called upon and encouraged to plant indigenous trees as a practical and symbolic gesture of sustainable environmental management.
Multicup Solutions, a division of Libstar Operations (PTY) LTD – sponsored a number of indigenous trees as their symbolic gesture towards sustainable environmental management. We planted these trees in a mini bio-mimicked forest patch within the Wilderness Heights Wildlife Corridor, one of our ongoing assisted reforestation projects in the Garden Route.
Multicup Solutions are, however, going beyond symbolic gestures of environmental management confined to a single week or month of the year. They are committed to practical, sustainable environmental measures to reduce the overall environmental footprint of the full production cycle of their products, including transport, consumption and disposal thereof. They are introducing a new earth-loving packaging range that is certified compostable and made from plant-based sources. www.multicup.co.za
A big thank you to Multicup Solutions for their commitment to our environment, for their sponsorship of indigenous forest trees and another big thank you to our VIP’s who helped plant them out!
If you would like to support our ongoing efforts of assisted regeneration of the Garden Route forest biome, click here!
Oakhurst Farm has history in the Garden Route – covering approx. 640 hectares of land – of which 200 hectares is pristine fynbos and indigenous forest – the farm is run commercially by the Crowther family – sixth generation descendants of the original purchaser, Henry Dumbleton, who bought the land in 1820. It is one of the few remaining large working dairy farms along the Garden Route but is also well known for its stylish accommodation and the wide variety of outdoor activities around the farm for their guests, including hiking trails to the waterfalls, horse-riding, fishing on the dam or cycling through the indigenous forest.
The Precious Tree Project team has history with Oakhurst Farm – the Crowthers’ inherited a farm not only with many hectares of pristine indigenous forest but they also inherited highly invasive non indigenous trees such as wattle, blackwood and pine. While these serve as a great resource for the farm’s requirements (firewood for the guests, mulch, etc.) clearing them is an ongoing challenge and a costly one at that. The Crowthers’ have remained committed to the clearing process over the years as well as continuously planting out more pockets of endemic species on their farm.
On Saturday 4 September, in celebration of Arbour month and as part of their ongoing tree planting efforts, we joined forces with them yet again and shared a memorable morning with their weekend guests planting out a small bio-mimicked forest mix of true Yellowwood, Boekenhout, Outeniqua Yellowwood, Wild Peach and Tree Fuchsia at their AfriCamps site.
Thank you Jake and Claire for always making room for more indigenous trees!
BTS is a South Korean band with a large number of big international hits and a very big following across the globe, known as the BTS Army. The BTS Army have a base here in South Africa and this year they are celebrating their 8th Anniversary by gifting trees in honour and support of BTS’s Purple Pave Project.
“When we think about generosity, we think of you. When we think about kindness, we think of you. When we think about humility and care for mankind and for our planet, we always think of you. You’ve inspired millions to make our world a better place today, but also for tomorrow. For you, for us, we pay your example forward. We purple you.”
“Our gift of trees is in your honour as part of the “Purple Pave for BTS” Project. We purple you.”
“… ‘It’s okay … when I say 1, 2, 3, forget it. Erase all sad memories. Hold my hand & smile’ .. Our gift in your honour as part of the ‘Purple pave for BTS’ Project“
“Borahae BTS!”
“Borahae” (“I purple you”) is a phrase combining two Korean words: Violet (“bora”) and I love you (“saranghae”) and was coined during a 2016 concert by Kim Taehyung (a.k.a “V” of BTS). “Borahae” implies “I’ll love you till the end of days” since purple (violet) is the last colour of the rainbow.
The Precious Tree Project Team says thank you to the South African BTS Army for choosing a green project to celebrate and honour a purple one.
The Inkcubeko Youth and Science Centre is a non-profit initiative of the Isisombululo Community Improvement Programme and serves Thembalethu and the greater Garden Route District. The centre operates as a safe space for youth to explore how their external world around them works by igniting curiosity and interest in science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics and innovation. The centre also serves as a foundation for youth empowerment, community development, capacity building, social cohesion and youth orientated projects and programmes.
In collaboration with local environmental authorities, we spent the morning with the staff planting trees and raising their awareness around the importance of trees and the health of our natural environment… important information that they themselves will impart to the learners and community at large.
As one would like to see be the norm, they have started a small organic food garden on the property and we have joined in on this program by providing food seeds, seeds of green leafy vegetables, compost and earthworm juice to kick start the process. Their longer term goal is to have an organic waste management system in place to feed the food gardens.
We have been assisting the natural reforestation of this Wildlife Corridor in Wilderness Heights for the past 18 months through the continuous process of clearing patches of invasive trees (primarily wattle and Australian blackwood), and then planting out patches of a range of endemic forest tree species (emulating the larger afromontane forest biome of the area). It is a labour intensive process and not a simple one – particularly so when the primary consideration is to assist the reforestation and regeneration process as naturally as possible. The clearing process is a pre-planned one that goes hand-in-hand with the planting process.
Clearing an infestation of wattle is not about going in and cutting every invasive tree down in one fowl swoop before planting can take place. It involves more of a “thinning-out-to-clear” process, which includes cutting/chopping, hand-pulling (roots-and-all) and ringbarking. The method we employ to eradicate wattle is determined by the size of the tree at the time and is designed to assist the natural regeneration process … not hinder it.
Scraps of biodegrading wattle left behind from the clearing stage provide ground cover on the forest floor and mulch for the trees, both of which reduce evaporation at ground level.
Ringbarking the taller wattle and leaving them in situ, while they slowly die off, helps retain the overhead canopy that provides protection (from the elements) to the newly planted trees. In addition, they “stand in” as protective cover while the faster growing pioneers (keurbooms) shoot up under their shade without having to compete with them for water. The wattle will eventually be cut down and used as a resource once the Keurbooms have grown tall enough to provide their own protective canopy for the other underlying, comparatively slower-growing forest trees.
Clearing a site completely prior to planting would hinder the process insofar as it would create a barren space where too much sunlight penetrating to ground level, precipitating a rapid sprouting of seeds (mostly wattle at this point) post any rainfall.
Planting only happens once a patch has been thinned out sufficiently to allow the easy growth of new trees. We have planted out twenty different species of forest trees over and above the Keurbooms in this corridor – each growing at different paces, reaching different heights and boosting one another through their underground communication systems, while above-ground they provide a seasonal source of food and a haven for our wildlife as the forest grows and matures.
Continuous maintenance and “pulling” of wattle saplings/seedlings within the newly planted forest patch is essential and an ongoing necessary process until the indigenous forest trees have established themselves as the dominant species.
Yes, it is a labour intensive process but a rewarding one when we see the results!
Thank you to all our sponsors who make the expansion of this wildlife corridor possible!
If you would like to help expand this wildlife corridor, click here!
We planted out a mini bio-mimicked indigenous forest at Libertas Guest farm under two years ago (mid 2019) in order to assist the natural reforestation process on a site that was left devastated by the clearing efforts of local woodcutters at the time (for use as firewood).
The mini forest we planted out comprised a range of indigenous forest tree species including one Milkwood and a number of Keurboom, Boekenhout, Cape Beech, Cape Chestnut, Cape Holly, Blinkblaar, Wild Peach, Forest Elder and Wild Olive. These are forest trees endemic to the site.
We have been monitoring the process. See the results for yourself!
A big thank you from the Precious Tree Project Crew to all our sponsors and volunteers who were involved in this project.
We were introduced to something completely different in our volunteer planting session this month: we planted out a bio-mimicked forest patch comprising a range of endemic tree species in Wilderness Heights with Source Seeds donated by The Crystallized Roots Movement. The purpose of The Crystallized Roots Movement, under the auspices of Earth Change, is to plant trees with a higher biophoton count in the soil using Source Seeds.
Source Seeds are ceramic balls designed to create biophotons, allowing the trees an opportunity to learn and connect with the world in a new way. Their goal is to plant 1 000 000 Source Seed trees across the globe and Precious Tree Project took up the offer of planting 53 of them in the Wildlife Corridor we are currently clearing and reforesting. While we believe in keeping the reforestation process as natural as possible, we thought we’d give this group of trees a boost of biophotons. We’ll keep you posted on developments and see how these precious trees compare in growth to that of their family of forest trees surrounding them!
A big thank you to all you wonderful sponsors whose support makes the growth and expansion of this wildlife corridor possible.
A big thank you to Josie Crook and The Crystallized Roots Movement for the sponsorship of these Source Seeds.
A big thank you to all our volunteer planters who continually pitch up to plant trees, grow our forests and expand this wildlife corridor!
Here’s to all of us learning and connecting with the world in a new higher vibrational way!
If you are interested in The Crystallized Roots Movement, visit earthchange.org.
If you would like to support our ongoing efforts of assisted regeneration of our forest biome, click here!
