National Arbor Week 2015

We all know we can't live without water, but we seldom give a second thought to the air we breathe. Trees and plants purify our air and provide us with oxygen, which is essential to almost all living creatures on our planet. The more trees we plant, the better the quality of air we breathe.

• raise awareness of South Africa’s urban and rural greening initiatives,
• promote a better understanding of trees, particularly indigenous trees and fruit trees,
• highlight the important role that trees play in the sustainable development and livelihoods of people and their environment,
• highlight the role of trees in creating employment, especially in rural areas,
• highlight the role of fruit trees in addressing food security when integrated with other programmes, and
• encourage communities to participate in various greening activities within their own surroundings.

The theme for this year is “Forests and People: Investing in a Sustainable Future”. The theme was adopted from the World Forestry Congress, which will be hosted by South Africa in Durban from 7-11 September 2015.

Greening our province

Greening refers to an integrated approach to the planting, care and management of all vegetation in urban and rural areas to secure multiple benefits for communities. Greening in the South African context takes place in towns, townships and informal settlements specifically because in the past, previously disadvantaged areas were not catered for in terms of planning for parks or planting trees in streets and open spaces.

2015 Trees of the Year 

To help increase public awareness of the more than 2 000 indigenous tree species in South Africa, every Arbor Week celebration will highlight specific trees: 1 common and 1 rare species. 

The 2015 Trees of the Year are:

• Common tree: Forest bushwilow (Combretum krausii)
• Rare (uncommon) tree: Parsley tree (Heteromorpha arborescens) 

Arbor City Awards 

The Arbor City Awards competition was re-introduced in 2002 and is a joint initiative between the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF)  in conjunction with the Institute of Environment and Recreation Management (IERM).

The main aim is to recognise and provide incentives for towns, cities and municipalities for their greening efforts, with the special focus on previously disadvantaged areas, such as townships and informal settlements. 

The competition provides for 2 categories of winners namely: 

1. the metropolitan municipalities and
2. local municipalities. ​

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For each category, the winning municipality will receive prize-money. The following municipalities have won the sought-after first prizes since 2012: 

• 2012: Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality (Gauteng)
• 2012: Khara Hais Local Municipality (Northern Cape)
   
• 2013: eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality  (Kwa-Zulu Natal)
• 2013: Drakenstein Local Municipality (Western Cape)
   
• 2014: Stellenbosch Metropolitan Municipality (Western Cape)
• 2014: eThekwini Local Municipality (Kwa-Zulu Natal)
   
• 2015: Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality (Gauteng)
• 2015: Hessequa Local Municipality (Western Cape)

Through this competition, municipalities are encouraged to undertake greening initiatives, develop greening plans, to expand greening projects in previously disadvantaged areas, ensure that municipalities comply with relevant legislation regarding greening and to raise awareness of the importance and value of greening in our communities.

Million Trees Project

The Million Trees Programme was launched during the 2007 Arbor Week campaign as part of the South African contribution to the United Nations Environment Programme “Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign”, where communities, industry, civil society organisations and governments are encouraged to plant at least one billion trees worldwide.

Calculating your carbon footprint

Use this carbon calculator to measure your carbon footprint.  You may be surprised at how high your footprint is!  

Find out what you can do to reduce your personal carbon footprint.