Our journey begins!

I have always loved hiking. Being out in nature, especially in the forest has been something I have loved since I was a kid.

Photo - alien Black Wattle forest - nothing else can grow.

It is always the ancient forests that have captivated me the most. I am not sure why exactly. There is a feeling you get when walking alone in a forest that is difficult to describe, except that it is a positive feeling. For me, it’s time to be on my own with my thoughts. I have always found that I think about things differently while in the forest. I see things from a different perspective and I am often inspired.

In the last few years, I have mainly spent time in our Southern Cape Forests, from the Cape Peninsula to the Garden Route. These forests are always so full of life, but they are under threat. Alien trees are out-competing our indigenous trees. I believe the reason for this is mainly fire. Our Southern Cape Forests are relatively dry compared to other forests in other parts of the world, making them vulnerable to fire. Although fire is a natural part of the fynbos forest ecosystem, the alien trees that seem to gain a foothold first are not.

The alien trees are so proliferous that they crowd out all slower growing trees. Our indigenous trees do not stand a chance. The problem with this is that the forests that were once so full of life are now almost barren. All the diversity that was once so abundant is gone.

We want to change this. Too many forests on the Cape Peninsula have been wiped out by fire, and then subsequently wiped out by alien trees.

We are going to start with a property which we have acquired. This property is in the fynbos biome with a large section being a steep ravine, a typical Southern Cape Forest type terrain.

Setting out the do something like this is an overwhelming challenge. With your help, we believe we have a great chance of making a real difference.

We started O2Grow NPO as a non-profit charitable company creating a vehicle to get help with our project.

Next, we need a plan. Forests take a lifetime to grow. How do we expect to make any meaningful impact with this project? Join us on our journey to find out. We do have a plan! With your help, we can make it real.