National Arbor Month – EIE contributes to a sustainable future
FTFA is a South African social enterprise that focuses on people and the environment in order to realise sustainable development. Its objectives are:
- To contribute to greening, climate change action, sustainable natural resource management and food security;
- To create awareness of the benefits of environmental improvement activities amongst all communities of Southern Africa; and
- To contribute to poverty alleviation, sustainable development, enhanced environments, capacity building and skills development.
Since its origin in 1990, FTFA has distributed over 4 million trees and facilitated the development of over 2 500 organic food gardens in South Africa.
Through their Trees for All programme, FTFA provides trees to disadvantaged schools and communities who live in impoverished conditions when these groups apply to receive trees from FTFA. With assistance from sponsors, like Eqstra Industrial Equipment, FTFA is able to provide trees to the applicants whose plights have fallen on open ears and hearts. Once an application is successful, FTFA orders trees from nearby tree growers – and where possible, emerging nurseries – in order to further local economic development. The trees are then delivered to the applicant(s) along with instructions on how to plant and correctly care for the trees.
As a way of further improving the South African natural environment, Trees for All specifically tries to deliver as many indigenous and fruit trees as the sponsor’s funding can allow.
Eqstra Industrial Equipment conducted a partial carbon offset in their regional areas, as well as in Port Elizabeth, Durban, Pietermaritzburg, Cape Town and Johannesburg. Schools in these areas that had applied for trees from FTFA, as well as schools selected by the different branches in the specific regions above, were the main beneficiaries.
Eqstra Industrial Equipment donated a total of 282 trees for National Arbor Month in September, and in doing so, not only assisted FTFA to successfully achieve its objectives, but have also started a process that will result in the offsetting of 104.05 tons of carbon emissions during the lifetime of these trees.
Eqstra Industrial Equipment attended all of the 18 tree distributions across South Africa:
PROVINCE | AREA | BENEFICIARY | NUMBER OF TREES | TREE SPECIES |
Western Cape | Cape Town | Toyota Premises | 50 | Paperbulk, River Bushwillow, Milkwood |
Eastern Cape | Port Elizabeth | Toyota Premises | 30 | Harpephyllum Caffrum, Rapanea Melanophloeos, Podocarpus Henkelii, Podocarpus Latifolius, Cunonia Capensis |
Eastern Cape | Port Elizabeth | Adelaide Gymnasium | 30 | Cunonia Capensis |
KwaZulu Natal | Pietermaritzburg | W Lewit Primary School | 10 | Noltea Africana, Pappea Capensis, Trichilia Emetica |
KwaZulu Natal | Pietermaritzburg | Emthethweni Primary School | 10 | Cobcans |
KwaZulu Natal | Pietermaritzburg | Eastwood Primary School | 10 | Rhus Lancea and Cobcans |
KwaZulu Natal | Pietermaritzburg | Willowton Oil | 10 | Rhus Lancea and Cobcans |
KwaZulu Natal | Pietermaritzburg | Ramatha Primary School | 10 | Rhus Lancea and Cobcans |
KwaZulu Natal | Pinetown | Phephilile Primary School | 15 | Noltea Africana, Pappea Capensis, Trichilia Emetica |
KwaZulu Natal | Pinetown | Sthandiwe Lower Primary School | 15 | Noltea Africana, Pappea Capensis, Trichilia Emetica |
KwaZulu Natal | Pinetown | St. Gobain | 2 | Noltea Africana, Pappea Capensis, Trichilia Emetica |
Gauteng | Primrose | Ithembehihle Primary School | 10 | Rhus Lancea, Combretum and Celtis Africana |
Gauteng | Primrose | Primrose Primary | 10 | Rhus Lancea, Combretum and Celtis Africana |
Gauteng | Diepsloot | Bophelong Primary School | 10 | Rhus Lancea, Combretum and Celtis Africana |
Gauteng | Diepsloot | Vuwani Secondary School | 10 | Rhus Lancea, Combretum and Celtis Africana |
Gauteng | Elandsfontein | Toyota Premises | 30 | Rhus Lancea, Combretum and Celtis Africana |
Gauteng | Boksburg | Ephes Mamkeli Secondary School | 10 | Rhus Lancea, Combretum and Celtis Africana |
Gauteng | Boksburg | Dawn Park Primary School | 10 | Rhus Lancea, Combretum and Celtis Africana |
282 |
Eqstra Industrial Equipment is proud to have been able to work with Food & Trees for Africa and looks forward to improving more lives through environmental responsibility!