Western Department of Agriculture (WCDoA), South Africa has donated indigenous trees to various organizations in bid to restore ecological infrastructure.
The distribution was done during WCDoA’s annual Nursery Day held at the Veld Reserve in Worcester. Western Cape Minister of Agriculture, Dr Ivan Meyer said that the indigenous tree nursery was one of the WCDoA’s interventions to mitigate the impact of climate change.
Beneficiaries included the West Coast region of the Women’s Agricultural Society, Bonnies People Project, Seed2Harvest and Fairtrade Africa.
“The nursery cultivates and grows indigenous trees that can then be put back into their original environment. We are effectively implementing the Western Cape’s smart agri plan through this ecological infrastructure project. Managing the risk of climate change means putting in place mitigating measures such as smart agriculture and the restoration of our ecological infrastructure,” said Minister Meyer.
Protecting the environment
On his part, WC DoA’s District Manager for the Cape Winelands, Rudolph Röscher, highlights farmers’ vital role in the project.
“We have 76 farmers throughout 80 kilometres of river actively participating, doing alien clearing, restoring our rivers. At this Nursery, we produce 12 000 trees annually, and with the assistance of farmers and various other organizations, we plant them back into our river systems.”
Fairtrade Africa’s Emma Patentia, whose project Dignity for All focuses on 27 wine farms in the Western Cape, thanked the WCDoA and Breeekloof Wines and Tourism for donating trees.
“Protecting the environment is one of Fairtrade Africa’s focus areas. This is an exciting project that we are starting with the Department to address the challenge of climate change. We do not only focus on the people but also the environment. All our members are committed to looking after the environment,” said Patentia
