‘Tree-hugging’ duo promotes Arbour Week
The nine-year-old boys urged other residents to also participate in Arbour Week, which takes place from 1 to 7 September, by planting an indigenous tree.
BEST friends, Reece Bennett and Colby Smith, have urged the public to join in on the conservation fever by planting a tree during National Arbour Week in September.
The Durban North duo recently planted their own indigenous trees after winning the Chelsea Preparatory School’s Arbour Day competition. The aim of the initiative was to teach the youth about South Africa’s indigenous trees. The pupils were required to submit a ‘selfie’ with an indigenous tree.
Smith and Bennet were so inspired by the competition that they ended up submitting a whole ‘photoshoot’ of themselves posing next to various indigenous trees. This is what caught the attention of the judges and earned the friends the winning title.
Their prize included two acacia tree seeds, which they planted at their homes.
“We had so much fun with the photo shoot and thought that one photo would not be enough. There are so many indigenous trees that it was difficult to choose only one,” said Bennet.
The nine-year-old boys urged other residents to also participate in Arbour Week, which takes place from 1 to 7 September, by planting a tree and sharing a photo of themselves with an indigenous tree on social media. They hope that this will facilitate respect for and awareness of the significance of trees. “Trees are important: they give us fresh air and shade,” said Smith.
Two fellow Durban North residents, Steven Entwistle and Siva Naidoo, recently expressed concern over the alarming rate in which trees are being culled in the area. They called Durban North ‘a graveyard of trees’ and initiated a petition to challenge the culling.
When asked what hopes they had for their trees, the boys said they hoped to see them grow tall so that they could climb and build swings in them.
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