'Trees are our heritage'
8 September 2003
Water Affairs and Forestry Minister Ronnie Kasrils launched National Arbor Week in Evaton in the Vaal in Gauteng, saying this year's activities aimed to build on South Africa's heritage of urban forests by extending greening initiatives to townships and rural areas.
The emphasis of the week-long activities, to be conducted under the theme "Trees are our heritage", were on planting trees in townships and rural areas and developing indigenous forests.
Arbor Week ran from 1-7 September, and set out to educate people about the value and role of trees in communities.
Indigenous forests 'rich in value'
Kasrils said indigenous forests were rich in value, despite covering less than one percent of the total land area in the country. He mentioned the forests of Nkandla, used by Shaka's warriors, the Amatola of Sandile and Maqoma, as well as Fundudzi, the sacred forest of the Venda people.
"These forests
played an important role as sites of resistance to colonial conquest and retained the sacred status of the great ancestors", Kasrils said. "They also are the home of important herbs and medicines utilised by many South Africans."
Community stake in state forests
Kasrils said the process of restructuring state forests had resulted in innovative partnerships between rural communities and the public sector, giving rural communities a share in the ownership and control of the forest companies.
This access to commercial forestry, and exposure to the realities of large-scale commercial forest management, had contributed to poverty reduction by creating jobs, business opportunities and income, Kasrils said.
8 000 trees to green Limpopo
As part of the week's celebrations, the Limpopo government purchased 8 000 trees from emerging nurseries in an effort to green the province.
The trees were distributed
to 24 temporary tree depots across the province, including multipurpose community centres, Water Affairs and Forestry Department satellite offices, clinics and municipal offices.
The trees will be distributed at no cost to schools, organisations and individual households to help promote a culture of tree planting in the province.
Source: BuaNews
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