Protect the climate with every purchase

The Eastern Cape landscape has dried out due to intensive agriculture and long periods of drought. To transform these areas into healthy land again we plant seedlings of a native succulent. The project aims to create several biodiversity and wildlife corridors to restore the original habitat and biodiversity in the area.

Spekboom (Portulacaria afra) aka elephant bush is a small succulent tree that is native to the Eastern Cape region of South Africa. Common to semi-arid thickets, it is a resilient plant that is remarkably tolerant of drought conditions and rocky soils. In fact, spekboom can thrive on down to 250 mm of water per year. It can grow up to 5 meters tall, creating a micro climate that is conducive to biodiversity restoration. Its roots are soil binding which prevents soil erosion, and its leaves help regenerate soils due to their nutritive content.

It is most notable during periods of bloom, with its characteristic soft pink nectar-rich flowers, which provide food for many insects and attract insectivorous birds. Its longevity is well documented, and able to live up to 200 years.

The location of the Spekboom Restoration South Africa is a 1,456-hectare farm within the plant’s native range in South Africa’s Eastern Cape region. This farm largely consists of degraded grazing lands with a smaller portion of low productivity agricultural lands situated around the upper reaches of the New Year’s River, which flows through the property.

The area consists of approximately 1,200 ha of land suitable for the planting and restoration with native Spekboom, representing 3 million trees of new plantings during a two-year planting schedule, followed by three years of maintenance. At that time, the spekboom plants will be well-established, and in the following years the landscape will be restored into a biodiverse thicket ecosystem placed in permanent protection for conservation purposes. Continued monitoring and reporting occur, and periodic verifications of the GHG emission removals.

In addition to the ecological aspects, the project also has a social impact. We can create over 24 full-time jobs and another 24 seasonal jobs in an area with an unemployment rate of over 75%.