Page 11 - Landscape SA 105

FEATURE

NATIONAL ARBOR WEEK

South Africa celebrates Arbor Week every year, during the first week of September. It
is an opportune time to call on everyone to plant indigenous trees as a practical and
symbolic gesture of sustainable environmental management.

he Department of Agriculture, Land The Department of Agriculture, Forestry 1912. In the early 1900s, Mahatma Gandhi
Reform and Rural Development, and Fisheries is also involved in the week’s approached the Town Council on behalf
Tas the custodian of forestry, is events and organisations such as Food and of the Hindu community to construct a
responsible for the campaign. Since Trees for Africa help poorer communities crematorium, which was then built some
September is also heritage month, the learn how to develop and maintain food six years later. The crematorium is now a
Department focusses on the country’s gardens. The importance of National Arbor heritage site and the cemetery is a resting
champion trees as well - these include the Week cannot be underestimated. place to other religious sects such as the
Sophia Town oak and the Sagale baobab, Jewish, Chinese and Muslim communities.
which are part of the country’s heritage. Joburg City Parks and Zoo The graves of the many soldiers who
fought in two world wars can be found in
Arbor Week affords government, Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo (JCPZ), the cemetery.
the private and public sectors, non- the custodian of green open spaces and
governmental and community-based cemeteries in the City of Joburg, has The benefits of trees are endless; they
organisations an opportunity to get brought the historical Brixton Cemetery remove carbon dioxide from the air while
involved in greening their communities back to life through greening restoration, releasing oxygen into the atmosphere,
and it is important for all these sectors green fencing and the planting of 2000 purifying the air we breathe. They provide
to work together. Greening refers to an indigenous trees to mark Arbor Day. shade and beautify our living spaces.
integrated approach to the planting, care
and management of vegetation in urban In celebration of National Arbor Week, they The 2021 Tree of the Year is Vachellia
and rural areas in order to secure multiple reinforced the perimeter fencing of the (Acacia) karroo, or Sweet Thorn. LSA
benefits for communities. In the South cemetery with a green fence, the aim of
African context, greening takes place which is to provide sustainable solutions Information sources
in towns, cities, townships and informal to the challenges of vandalism, theft of
settlements, specifically because in the palisade fencing, illegal dumping and the www.gov.za
past, the latter were disadvantaged in presence of displaced persons. www.southafrica.com/blog/national-arbor-
terms of parks, open spaces and tree
planting. Brixton Cemetery has had a rich history week-in-south-africa
and heritage since it was first laid out in www.jhbcityparksandzoo.com
There are many benefits to the different
aspects of forestry, and the term is divided
into three different categories during Arbor Week tree planting at the Brixton Cemetery in Johannesburg.
Arbor Week. The first is that of indigenous Photo courtesy of Joburg City Parks and Zoo.
forests, which provide a home for wildlife,
as well as trees and herbs which are often
used for natural remedies on which so
many people depend. Indigenous forests
also provide a barrier against erosion and
sustain the environment.

Commercial forests, on the other hand,
are completely unnatural but their role
is equally important since they not only
provide people with jobs, but also the
wood which is needed in industry.
Metropolitan forests refer to the trees,
plants and lawns which are grown in cities
and towns across the country. Without
these small pieces of greenery amongst all
the concrete and brick, our environments
would be dull and lifeless.
During the course of National Arbor
Week, South Africans are provided with a
better knowledge of trees, awareness of
the danger of forest fires is created, and
emphasis is placed on the importance of
the forestry industry and trees in general.

Landscape SA • Issue 105 2021 9