COMMUNITY PROJECTS
RESILIENT & SUSTAINABLE HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
COMMUNITY PROJECTS
ARBOR DAY 2023
SiyaQhubeka Forests (SQF) joined hands with other stakeholders in celebrating Arbor Day by planting trees at the Amabuye Secondary School in Esikhaleni, Richards Bay.
This year’s theme – Forests and Health – was adopted from the United Nations Collaborative Partnership on Forests and was also used for the 2023 International
Day of Forests.
SQF has a passion for forests and conservation and participates in the Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (EDTEA) Arbor week programme. This is in addition to SQF’s own Arbor week programmes at schools in the local areas, 165 trees have been donated to be planted at various schools in the King Cetshwayo District.
SQF partnered with the City of uMhlathuze and EDTEA in the September environmental programmes, Arbor Day and Clean Up initiatives, because of the need to conserve, protect and plant trees for environmental and human-related benefits.
Mondi Zululand Land Manager, Nosipo Zulu stated that, as a company that owns commercial forests which are sustainably managed, SQF can attest to the fact that forests create sustainable healthy communities through benefits such as employment opportunities, business opportunities, fresh air, medicinal plants, clean water, places for recreation and more.
EDTEA representative Nosipho Mkhwanazi noted that the Umhlathuze Municipality is surrounded by commercial forests, which create employment opportunities for local communities, contribute to the GDP of the municipality and help mitigate climate change.
“We also have a large number of small-scale growers in our communities,’’ she said. “Forestry is an important economic driver for the region.”
Councillor Happinesss Mkhwanazi from Umhlathuze Municipality is a testament to the fact that people can make a living by planting trees as her mother is a small-scale grower of eucalyptus trees, forestry is a source of livelihood for her family.
Forests play a crucial role in reducing the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, absorbing the equivalent of roughly two billion tons of carbon dioxide each year.
During the launch of the Arbor Week in 2021, President Cyril Ramaphosa called for the planting of 10 million trees in South Africa in the next five years. It is evident that SQF is making an important contribution to this ambitious target.
COMMUNITY PROJECTS
FOOD SECURITY PROGRAMME
In 2019, SQF collaborated with Mondi Zimele with the aim to increase household income and alleviate poverty, either via the sale of surplus produce or by reducing spending on food. The food security programme also set out to provide employment for growers and traders and the potential for growers to work cooperatively to achieve economies of scale and improve access to market. This would be done through a range of interventions targeting subsistence and commercial agricultural projects in the communities.
To date SQF has supported ten local producers with agricultural extension services, fencing and irrigation schemes for small-scale commercial producers. With the assistance from Mondi Zimele, the growers are supported with access to markets and quality control.
