Arbor Month

Arbor Day was started in South Africa in 1983. Tree awareness and interest has grown enormously and this has become a popular event in the “special day” calendar. So popular in fact, that in 1997 it was extended to a National Arbor Week, and then in 2009, Arbor Month which aims to motivate schools, businesses and communities to plant, sponsor and look after South Africa’s diverse natural tree heritage. September is now considered the annual Arbor Month.

The idea for Arbor Day originally came from Nebraska.

Karongwe has celebrated Arbor Day since 2009, distributing numerous indigenous trees to most of the reserve’s lodges. GVI has been tasked with monitoring their progress through the use of GPS mapping and determining overall health of each sapling.

GVI Karongwe decided to run a number of projects throughout the September Arbor Month. The current group of volunteers have been extremely busy landscaping the base’s surrounds, installing erosion control measures, relocating particular trees and shrubs as well as the planting of newly purchased saplings. As part of their Team Leading course, a group of our long term volunteers have embarked on creating a herb garden that doubles up as an outdoor lounge – more on this in a future blog.

 

All of this has come just in time for the rainy season. The first 100mm have already fallen and the reserve has been blanketed green and is experiencing the renewed emergence of amphibians and arthropods.

Andreas Fox

Limpopo Programme Coordinator

GVI South Africa

Arbor Month