Ray turned 50 this month. As part of his celebration weekend in honour of his birthday, we gathered together to plant 100 precious indigenous trees on his small holding in Wilderness Heights. He sponsored 50 of them, honouring each year of his life, and the balance were sponsored as birthday gifts from friends, family and community members. Happy 50th Birthday Ray!
Date: February and March 2018
Boehringer Ingelheim sponsored 60 trees as part of their team building event held at Pezula in February. PTP chose to plant 60 beautiful Keurboom trees, which we purchased from the newly developed satellite nursery on Heartland itself, thereby reducing the transport aspect and planting trees that have been growing in the same locale, on Heartland itself as part of our mission to assist with the restoration of the natural environment post the devastation of the fires.
Over eight months after the Knysna fires, after the initial hype and the initial shock have waned, the scars of the fire still so evident but progress is being made.
Our dedicated group of volunteers have been pitching up every month to help the regenerative process of the Heartland Forest. Well done and thank you for bringing your positive and healing vibrations to this project! Thank you, thank you!
Co-ordinated and put together by thriVe, this volleyball event at Leentjies Klip is the first of what is to become an annual sporting challenge here in Wilderness.
“Playing for trees” was a truly fun way of raising money for Precious Tree Project – in the glorious summertime season – and we got to do it on the beach! Look out for next year’s event, same time, same place!
Emotions ran high this year for many of us living in the Garden Route, whether directly or indirectly affected by the fires. Chantal and Matthew of 5th Place, came down from Jo’burg and conducted a Shape of Emotion session with us before we started to dig in and place our precious trees in their new home.
Thank you 5th Place for your sponsorship of these precious trees, your facilitation of the Shape of Emotion session, and for contributing to this gathering of our VIPs.
Volunteer Tree Planting: This month we gathered with our team of VIP’s to start the process of regrowing a mini patch of endemic forest trees on this newly acquired, beautiful piece of property that had been cleared of much of its flora.
25 indigenous forest trees were gifted by Andrew Smith, to his mate, JJ Bass, whose property was one of those that was badly affected by the Garden Route fires earlier this year. Cape Ash and Yellowwood were primarily selected for the property and planted between the new Keurboom saplings that were starting to shoot post the first rains after the fires.
Rock the Route and PTP met up at the Fairy Knowe Backpackers with a group of young adventurous touring students to harvest the seeds of indigenous forest trees that can be planted out around on the property!
Volunteer Tree Planting Women’s Day 2017: We planted out more precious trees on Matt’s property for Women’s Day this month, in honour of all women out there and in recognition of who you are. While this celebratory activity was more arduous than relaxing, it was the perfect way to connect to Mother Earth herself!
Volunteer Clearing Session to Regrow Heartland Organic Farm: We were working in a smokey haze but needed to assist as quickly as possible after the fires! A group of our volunteers got stuck in to assist the first phase of rehabilitating Heartland’s natural environment by clearing out deadwood and non-indigenous saplings popping up all over the place.
So phase one of the journey begins … and while it felt a little overwhelming initially, the opportunity to replace the pine-infested region with endemic indigenous forest trees and regrow the natural vegetation made the journey ahead worth walking …
In a nutshell; we plant out trees – that you have sponsored – on selected properties along the Garden Route and we spend time out in nature, reconnecting with her and getting our hands dirty!
Once we have received sponsorship/donations, we select a site (location) along the Garden Route and establish a day for a tree planting session. Each tree planting experience varies depending on site, location and attendance of volunteers. On arrival, there is usually a short introduction, discussion and activity such as a brief educational talk on how to plant a tree, a short emotional release or breath-work activity. After that we move on to the fun part, which includes:
Post planting: refreshments for our tree-loving team of Very Important Planters! All subsequent care and maintenance of our precious trees is then undertaken by the property owner.
Have a question? Want to volunteer and join our tree planting sessions? Contact Us.
As a non-profit organisation, Precious Tree Project rely on sponsorship and donations. Without these contributions, we are not able to see our vision through. Here is how you can help.
Switch to Ecosia, the search engine that plants trees!
