AfriForum plants trees in Knysna

AfriForum, together with Go Green Knysna, started planting indigenous trees, including the Cape Ash, Water Berry and the Outeniqua Yellowwood, in the Pledge Nature Reserve on Saturday, 23 September 2017.

According to Chris Boshoff, AfriForum’s environmental affairs coordinator, this project forms part of a long-term initiative to rehabilitate Knysna after the devastating fires in June this year.

“Because of water restrictions, we decided to start with 10 trees. We also decided on indigenous trees, among others because they grow faster and will therefore make a greater impact in a shorter period. However, we plan to plant more trees before the end of the month.”

Boshoff added that AfriForum also donated a 2500 litre water tank to the reserve, as much of their own infrastructure has been destroyed.

“The reserve is for various reasons a good starting point to get Knysna’s ecosystem back on track,” said Johandré van Zyl, district coordinator for AfriForum in the Southern Cape.

AfriForum recently also had a fundraising competition for schools in the area. A new tree was named after each of the three winning schools, namely Outeniqua Primary, Meerendal Pre-primary and Eduplay.

AfriForum would like to thank the role-players who helped to make the project possible, including Flora RSA Nursery, Everybody Love Everybody, Norga River Nursery, Gardenworld Krugersdorp and Cape Garden Centre.