It has been a year since the Knysna Fires happened and over the last three weeks, Greenpop has been planting over 4000 trees to promote reforestation.
The country was devastated by the news of the Knysna Fires in 2017, they blazed on for weeks and caused millions in damage. For months after the blaze, we shared all the good news that came during the fires and in the aftermath. Now a year later, people are still working to repair the damage.
Greenpop has been working to replant the forests since the blaze and their most recent campaign saw them planting over 4000 trees in just 3 weeks. The Eden Festival of Action is working to Re-green the Garden Route.
Every June/July, the Greenpop Festival of Action brings people together from around the globe to learn, connect, give back and get active. For the past 6 years, this event has taken place in Livingstone, Zambia and for the first time in 2018, the Festival of Action is being hosted in the Eden District, South Africa.
GreenPop decided to move their festival to the Garden Route because of the devastation caused by the fire. By doing this, they can rebuild the lost forests and green spaces with trees and plants indigenous to South Africa.
“The first 2 weeks of the programme were geared towards high schools students, and saw 85 and 75 students respectively joining us each week from schools across the country, while the third week hosted an all-ages programme.” – GreenPop
“Collectively, we cleared 5,500m² of alien vegetation at Goukamma Nature Reserve over three days, and planted a total of 4,303 indigenous trees of more than 20 species during the festival. Of these trees, our reforestation efforts saw 500 planted at Phantom Forest Reserve, 1,680 at the Heartland School of Self-Sufficiency and 1,600 at Featherbed Nature Reserve near Knysna.”
There were also a number of beach clean-ups during this period and a total of 370 eco-bricks were made using non-recyclable plastics.
The impact made during this festival will have lasting effects for years to come. This positive change will help reshape the forests on the garden route. What a lovely idea that the trees planted today, will shade many generations of humans and wildlife in the future.
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