WATCH: Forty trees planted at the EARTH Centre

The wet and gloomy weather was the perfect backdrop for tree planting on Saturday 8 May at the EARTH Centre in Ruimsig. KPMG partnered with Food & Trees for Africa to break new ground and plant 40 indigenous trees and some fruit trees at the centre.

Nicole Ras, Marketing Manager at the EARTH Centre said Food & Trees for Africa had identified them as the perfect place to plant trees because of the centre’s large focus on sustainability. “Sustainability is something that underpins the therapy we provide for disabled children who come from largely underprivileged communities. We felt that this was really important to engage in, and which adds value to our work,” she said.

Nicole began the event by taking the staff from KPMG on a tour of the grounds and show them how they rehydrate and regenerate the land because, “A healthy environment is so important for a healthy and happy community”. She said the grounds are not only home to the horses and donkeys, but a few species of birds, including some threatened species, mongoose, squirrels, and a variety of insects. She added that they have set aside an area of Highveld grassland which will remain untouched on the property as a small addition to the surrounding greenbelts.

The centre not only provides therapeutic horse riding for children with special needs, but they also provide a variety of smaller programmes such as a youth development programme, where they invite small groups of youth that may have special needs, display aggressive behaviour, or need a little extra help coping with stress. Nicole said, “We work with them on the ground with the horses, and through certain exercises they are actually able to develop critical life skills that they wouldn’t have in other instances.”

Jonathan Tanchum from KPMG said by planting trees they are not just giving back to the environment but to underprivileged people as well.

Senior facilitator at Food & Trees for Africa, Jeminah Seqela said they facilitate different communities and plant trees all around the country, “I am very humbled to work with a team that is this energetic. We did a project in Tembisa with them; it’s quite exciting to have another tree-planting event.”

For more information, contact the EARTH Centre on 011 958 5044.