100 000 Tree Campaign is an environmentally friendly initiative which was established by Hessequa Municipality with the goal of creating a sense of belonging and well being for all citizens in our area. The municipality therefore encourages community involvement in making Hessequa 110% green. Through this campaign the municipality also aims to facilitate the restoration of ecosystems which underwrite the health and livelihood of these communities. Remember “Hessequa” stands for:
“The prosperous tribe which comes from the place of the trees”
With these goals in mind, the municipality already have partnered up with Working for the Coast, the Expanded Public Works Programme “EPWP” and Department of Agriculture to successfully implement the “#100 000 Tree Campaign”. National Department of Environmental Affairs strives to provide strong leadership for promoting sustainable coastal development. Functions such as these are mainly achieved through Working for the Coast which have undergone a signed partnership agreement involving the public and private sectors which aims for coastal development that promotes social equity through enhancing livelihoods of poor coastal communities and a healthy coastal environment for the benefit of present and future generations. As a partner in this campaign, EPWP can offer income and poverty relief through temporary work for the unemployed to carry out socially valuable activities. EPWP is focused on community projects more specifically job creation, beautification of the environment and creating a culture of cooperation amongst the communities of Hessequa.
The Department of Agriculture has already provided the municipality with a significant amount of trees for the area, however Working for the Coast sponsored 3000 trees towards the tree campaign. In total 6042 trees has been planted in the area making our goal a bit more achievable.
It is crucial to know the significance of trees. Since the beginning, trees have supplied us with two of life’s essentials, food and oxygen. As we evolved, they provided additional supplies such as shelter, medicine, and tools. Today, their value continues to increase and more benefits of trees are being discovered as their role expands to satisfy the needs created by our modern lifestyles. Trees reverse the impacts of land degradation and provide food, energy and income, helping communities to achieve long-term economic and environmental sustainability. Trees also filter the air and help stave off the effects of climate change. Further benefits that trees provides are cleaning the soil, controlling of noise pollution, slowing down storm water runoff, act as a carbon sink, provide shade and cooling, acts as wind breaks, controls soil erosion and increasing your property values.
The Municipality is grateful and appreciates our partners who share our vision in creating a greener future. The goal is to plant 100 000 indigenous trees and/or fruit trees. It’s a large number, but it’s possible with the assistance of the community. Every tree brings us closer to protecting and conserving indigenous vegetation in the Hessequa region for future generations. The municipality therefore encourages our citizens living in and around Hessequa to Help us Plant 100 000 trees. If you would like to join our campaign and make Hessequa 110% green kindly visit us on our official #100000TreesCampaign website, accesses via www.100000trees.co.za. You can become part of the count by registering a new tree online or adopting a tree that already have been planted.
For more information visit the municipality at any time or contact:
Shagon Carelse / Philip Hendricks
Hessequa Municipality
Physical Address: Civic Centre, Van den Berg Street, Riversdale, 6670
Postal Address: P.O. Box 29, Riversdale, 6670
Tel: +27 28 713 8000
Email: treescampaign@hessequa.gov.za
