Dear ReWilder,
“Going to the forest, there is that calmness that you get. You hear the birds singing, and it’s quiet.”
- Thembi Msomi, Tree-Preneur
Thembi Msomi is a Tree-Preneur, a local entrepreneur who is part of a group of women who collect seeds near the Buffelsdraai Reforestation Project near Durban, germinate the seeds, and grow seedlings, which are then sold back to the restoration project.
We had the opportunity to meet Thembi and Nondumiso on consignment for BBC StoryWorks, for their series on sustainable cities. The Buffelsdraai Reforestation Project was initiated to help offset the carbon emissions from the Fifa World Cup in 2010. Nondumiso, Project Manager, speaks to the importance of bringing the community to be more involved, in order to raise awareness around the importance of biodiversity and the challenges around climate change.
Local community members, such as Thembi, have bettered their livelihoods, increased their knowledge, and actively transfer their skills and knowledge to other community members. These reciprocal processes are not only life sustaining, offering livelihoods and income, but also community building. We love it when these solutions are so clearly benefiting both local communities and local ecologies.
The stark contrast between the former sugar cane farm and the now thriving, and biodiverse indigenous forest is an inspiring example of future proofing land for people & planet. These pockets of regeneration and restoration happening all over the world might seem like drops in the ocean, but they are a patchwork map of stories of resilience, hope, and communities coming together to forge a better path forward.
A word from Meg on the production
It seemed kind of funny, planting a forest around a landfill. But after speaking to the team off the record, I realised that the long term plan for this project is actually to turn this area into a functioning wildlife reserve! In the middle of Verulam, who would’ve thought! As they wait patiently for the landfill to be capped (+-70yrs), further progress can be made to introduce more species to the area. What an incredibly selfless vision of rewilding - the current team won’t see the end goal, but the next absolutely generation will. Thank you eThekwini Municipality for this beautiful effort.
News from ReWild Africa 🌱
The film we produced with the African Climate Reality Project, African Voices for Africa’s Forests, won a UN Angora Award last week! We are so thrilled! Ewi was at COP27 last week presenting the film and receiving her award for her climate action. We are so honoured to have had the opportunity to tell Ewi’s story and be alongside her for a small part of her exceptional journey.
Justin and Megan are heading off to Uganda and Kenya in a week to tell two incredibly important stories on holistic healthcare for non-communicable diseases - good luck Meg and Jay!
Sam has just returned from a couple months in the UK, with lots of stories to tell and we’re thrilled to have him back! More from Sam soon so watch this space…
Wild Regards,
Team ReWild Africa