In 2007, now ex-President Thabo Mbeki and the Water Affairs and Forestry Ministry of South Africa, initiated a campaign called “Plant a Million Trees” with the purpose to help mitigate the effects of climate change. As a part of a UN program to encourage all countries to plant trees, the goal of the South African campaign is to plant a million trees per year in South Africa.
In the spirit of this campaign, last year, Nils and I planted 15 trees — 13 which we’re happy to report survived abject neglect and local cattle or the lawn mower that mistook them for snacks.
Continuing in our effort to offset our carbon imprint, this past week we planted an additional eight trees with our very own two pairs of hands.
Due to our now blistered hands, we’ve employed four pairs of local young hands to help with the planting. When I left the farm 35 minutes ago, an additional three boys had shown up at our property gate in search of work. I hope Nils can be firmer than I, because I surely would employ them all whether we needed them or not.
Assuming all hands survive the next few days, by mid-week we shall have planted (or have had planted) 46 trees in total.
Part of our goal is to include family, friends and followers in our efforts. As a result, we’ve planted a tree in the names of :
- Elizabeth K.
- Guenter and Esther
- Lars and Leyla
- Kiyomi, Scott and Brett
- Alexander and Rachel
- The Aragon Family
- Birgit K.
- Peter N.
- The Ullrich Family
- The Mucher Family
We have plans for lots more tree planting next year. We’ll give warning ahead of time so others can put in their dibs. If you don’t want to wait that long, there are several other options you could consider. At Greenworks’ Plant a Tree for Life campaign, you can arrange and pay online to have a tree planted in your name. Similarly, at Trees for the Future, you can arrange to have a tree planted in honor of a loved one — certificate included.
Remember: planting trees is said to be one of the most cost-effective ways of off-setting our carbon emissions.
N.B.: All trees we’ve planted are indigenious to South Africa and/or our region.
WEEK 2: I’m scheduled to accompany a new friend for a tour through some of the local schools tomorrow. I expect Week 2 Impact will likely be education-related.
Jimmy Choo, eat your heart out!
Danger: Wide Load (sometimes I could just strangle my husband and his "sense of humor")
Great project! Thanks on behalf of A and R… Our family has planted trees in Israel for years and years, so this is a tradition I really love. Now there’s a new goal: to see how many different places we can find to put down some roots…
Yay for the trees, sad face for the blisters, lol at the “Choo”less pic.
Ricki, I love the goal of “putting down roots” in different places. Maybe a future 52 Week goal?
.
p.s. — I have to admit that my 15 US$ gumboots were a heck of a lot more comfortable than Choos.
Hi Corinne,
Likewise, we have a greening and reduction in carbon footprint plan for our 500 acre farm. Over the last two years we have planted 200 native trees as windbreaks at paddock peripheries and 5 silver birches and 3 olives in the farm garden.
The previous owner of the farm left very few trees in those paddocks that could be ploughed so our plan is to plant another 1000 trees throughout over the next five years as spot shelter and also as further windbreaks.
We know we have wombats on the property and the place is on a researched echidna trail, so the more shelter we provide the better. The other thing is that as we are at the top end of a valley against some very high hills, the natural flow-on is an improvement in the rainfall with a better canopy and a lessening in erosion.
Good thing all round.
Wow Prue!
Your tree planting/carbon footprint reduction plan is terrific! Something for us to shoot for in the future.
Thanks Corinne. The best part has been that the first planting took place in the worst drought since the 1950′s and almost all of the trees survived. When the drought broke in 2009, the rain became a real problem requiring draining away from roots.
But the trees loved the moisture and what started as tube stock of less than 6 inches in height, in two seasons they are now almost four feet tall with strong roots.
Prue,
Clearly your farm is my next “root” goal… Let me know the next time you embark on a tree planting effort — I want to kick in some.
Corinne,
You, too, please.
In response to a question from a friend and follower on Facebook, the trees that we planted this year include:
Real Yellowwood (Podocarpus latifolius)
River Bushwillow (Combretum erythrophyllum)
Buffalo Thorn (Ziziphus mucronata)
Sneezewood (Ptaeroxylon obliquum)
Pom Pom Tree (Dais cotinifolia)
Mountain Cabbage Tree (Cussonia paniculata)
Avocado Tree (Persea americana)
Kei Apple (Dovyalis caffra)
aMantungulu / Big Num-num (Carissa macrocarpa)
If/when I’m more organized, perhaps I’ll do a blog posting with photos or links of all of these. Some are quite beautiful, others unusual.