Land Rehabilitation
HECTARES UNDER SPEKBOOM
Blue Chip CARBON-DIVERSITY CREDITS
From desert to natural terrain
Why spekboom?
Together with South African National Parks, Kuzuko Lodge has been hard at work with an eco-friendly agri-initiative to convert desert into natural terrain, via the cultivation and planting of an indigenous succulent jade plant, also known as spekboom.
When thicket is restored by planting cuttings of this succulent, the carbon comes rushing back from the air, into the soil and plants. This enables carbon credits to be generated and it is these carbon credits which can be used by large multinationals to offset their carbon emissions, and achieve ‘carbon neutrality’.
NEXT PHASE OF THE SPEKBOOM PLANTING | 3500 HECTARE
PRICKLEY PEAR
Problem Plant Control
Kuzuko Foundation educates children and exposes them to the effect of invasive plant species, such as prickly pear, jointed cactus and mother of millions. In addition, the foundation’s volunteers remove problem plants using various methods.
Thousands of hectares of indigenous vegetation had been decimated over the past century by the overgrazing of goats and encroachment of alien vegetation. The Kuzuko reserve launched a massive eco-friendly intervention, where we cleared 250 hectares of alien vegetation and began planting the indigenous dwarf jade plant known as spekboom.
Water
Kuzuko Foundation representatives visit schools to educate children on preserving water. The bucket system, installing tanks at schools, not leaving taps running, planting succulents instead of blue gum or pine trees, and using less water where possible are just some of the methods taught.
VOLUNTEERS AT MIDDELWATER PRIMARY SCHOOL
VOLUNTEERS TEACHING LOCAL SCHOOL CHILDREN ABOUT SPEKBOOM
Erosion Control
Restoring what was lost.
When ecosystems are poorly managed, top soils erode, plant cover is reduced and the carbon residing in the soils and the plants is lost into the atmosphere. In the case of the Eastern Cape thicket, millions of hectares of dense, forested land have been degraded – and ‘turned into desert’ – by excessive goat farming over the last century and a half, resulting in the loss of hundreds of millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide. Now together with the South African National Parks, wildlife farmers, government, academics and goat farmers, are collaborating to bring back the plant thicket andcarbon via the planting of spekboom, which is funding the on-going restoration of the Eastern Cape.
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