[imagesource: Forest & Kim Starr via Creative Commons]

Maybe 2020 is the year that Greta Thunberg finally guilt trips us into taking some real action against climate change.

Avoiding air travel entirely might be a step too far for many South Africans, but the #SpekboomChallenge has clearly struck a nerve, which is why you might have heard about the benefits of planting spekboom over the past few weeks.

Let’s head to Cape Town Etc for what makes it stand out from the rest:

…this tree of wonder has the ability to absorb the highest amounts of carbon dioxide when compared to any other plant in existence. A healthy thicket of this treasure trove is said to be ten times more effective at removing carbon dioxide from the air than the Amazon Forest, which is known as the lungs of the earth for its contribution to cleaning the air and removing carbon dioxide.

On top of this, Spekboom can live up to 200 years and has the ability to adapt to its surroundings, ensuring a long and beneficial life once planted.

With many areas around the country suffering through prolonged periods of drought, the fact that the spekboom is a ‘water-wise’ plant, using as little as half the water needed to keep other plants alive, is also worth mentioning.

The resilient plant can also survive periods of frost, as well as withstand fires.

The #SpekboomChallenge aims to encourage each South African to plant 10 spekbooms during 2020, and some organisations are taking the challenge very seriously.

One winery has already pledged to plant a million spekbooms over the next five years, and the Great Labyrinth of Africa is on course to plant more than 160 000 spekbooms as part of their project, just outside of Stellenbosch.

From their website:

A labyrinth is a pattern of pathways that weave in a circle around a central point. You walk through the pathways to get to the center.  A labyrinth is not a maze. There is only one way in and one way out, so you don’t need to think about where you’re going…

Social entrepreneur and environmental activist, Peter Shrimpton, learned about the extraordinary ability of Spekboom to sequester carbon from the atmosphere and how easy it is to propagate.

Pursuing his passion to lift people out of poverty and preserve the environment, he established a social enterprise called Wonder Plant that enables people from previously disadvantaged communities to earn sustainable livelihoods by running small scale Spekboom nurseries.

From that, the idea to have South Africa’s first labyrinth made entirely from spekboom grew.

By the way, if you’re keen to get your hands dirty, they’re looking for volunteers:

We have 120,000 spekboom trees to plant so we need all the help we can get. We also need folks to help us water and feed our trees. We’re hosting volunteer days every Saturday from 9AM to 3PM.

All you need to do is let us know when you’d like to roll up your shirt sleeves and get involved. Send us your email address and we’ll send you directions and guidelines. In January we’re planting the perimeter trees and outer circle, and we’ll start planting the labyrinth inner pathways in Feb. Your help and kids too will be greatly appreciated.

​You can get in touch via their Facebook page if you want to lend a hand.

If we can all find time to make simple, small lifestyle changes this year – whether that means planting 10 spekboom or one of the other ways you can reduce your carbon footprint – we could, together, enact some meaningful change.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step and all that, right?

[sources:capetownetc&greatlabryinth]