1000s of trees for Arbour Day
2008-09-04 20:16
Cape Town - Woolworths is celebrating Arbour Week by donating 4 309 indigenous trees to a low income housing project in the Western Cape and schools in Limpopo and the Western Cape.
Woolworths will donate 2 309 trees to Kuyasa - a low income housing project in Khayelitsha. Each household will receive a tree.
To ensure the sustainability of the venture, the households will receive basic training about the need for trees, composting, mulching and watering.
The project will create short-term employment for unemployed residents, who will work as community based educators, teaching fellow residents about the importance of trees and how to care for them. One of their first tasks will be overseeing the planting of the trees.
Primary schools
In addition, 1 000 trees have been donated to primary schools in Limpopo and the Western Cape.
As members of the Woolworths Trust EduPlant programme, the schools have already been encouraged to develop sustainable gardens.
These trees will be sourced from Woolworths Trust EduPlant school nurseries, contributing to income generation for the schools.
Woolworths Trust EduPlant programme is a leading schools food gardening and greening programme that promotes the growing of food using permaculture techniques.
Planting will be overseen by Food and Trees for Africa - a non profit organisation working on environmental issues.
National Arbour Week
This initiative forms part of Woolworths Good business journey to help our communities, our country and our world.
National Arbour Week takes place from 1 to 7 September 2008 and aims to motivate schools, businesses and communities to plant, sponsor and look after South Africa's natural tree heritage.
"Trees provide many benefits for the environment. These include providing an ecosystem for fauna and preventing soil erosion.
"By producing oxygen and reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, trees also help us fight climate change," says Jeunesse Park, CEO of Food and Trees for Africa.
Planting will commence before the end of September 2008.
The total number of trees donated by Woolworths since the announcement of the Good business journey in April 2007 now stands at over 5 000.
Woolworths aims to plant another 12 000 trees by 2012.