Lucas Chaebwa, a Life Science and Maths Literacy teacher at Ermelo Combined School, has devoted his life to conserving the environment, in particular our trees.
He began his teaching career 30 years ago in his native land, Zambia.
Wanting to further his studies and continue with his environmental research, he came to South Africa in 2009 and settled in KwaZulu-Natal where he also continued teaching.
Three years ago he moved to Ermelo to be closer to the Unisa, Pretoria, where he is studying for his master’s degree in Science Environmental Management and is presently doing his dissertation.
He is currently collecting data for his research on urban forestry to discover the benefits of trees to people living in towns.
With the help of a few assistants, he is drawing up a tree inventory in Ermelo, plotting the GPS co-ordinates of each one, measuring them and photographing them in order to determine their height and canopy size.
Among other things, this study will determine the conflict between trees and the infrastructure and a report will also be submitted to the municipality to assist them in their decision on how to maintain trees that are damaging roads and pavements and growing into power lines “without cutting them down”, said Chaebwa.
His motto, that trees are valuable and must never be cut down, was deeply rooted in him by his father who taught him his passion for the environment.
He jokingly tells about the spanking that awaited you should you dare damage a tree in any way.
With these values and his love of the environment, becoming a Biology teacher was a given.
He has also written two Biology text books, one for Grade 10, used in schools in Zambia, and the other for Grade 11 and 12, being used in schools in Swaziland.
“I have a passion for the environment, and love to share my knowledge with the young ones, so it becomes part their values,” said Chaebwa.
Chaebwa and his crew began their work in the field last week, after receiving their ethics clearance from the university.
Next week Prof Stoffberg, Environmental Management lecturer at the Unisa, will be joining Chaebwa to observe as he goes about his research.
The plan is to finish gathering information by the end of April, then the hard work begins with sorting the data and compiling the information in order to finish his paper.
He also said that people interested in the environment and the value of trees are more than welcome to stop and have a chat if they spot him next to the road with his measuring tape and camera.
