1 - 7 September
South Africa celebrates Arbor Week from 1-7 September annually. The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF), as the custodian of forestry in South Africa, is responsible for the campaign.
National Arbor Week is an opportune time to call on all South Africans to plant indigenous trees as a practical and symbolic gesture of sustainable environmental management.
- It affords the government, the private sector, non-governmental and community based organisations and the public to be involved in "greening" their communities. Planting trees and greening human settlements takes place in communities.
- It is therefore important for the public to join hands with partners in local government and community-based organisations.
- Greening refers to an integrated approach to the planting, care and management of all vegetation in urban and rural areas, to secure multiple benefits for communities
- Greening in the South African context takes place in towns, townships and informal settlements specifically because in the past the latter mentioned areas were disadvantaged in terms of planning for parks as well as tree planting in streets and open spaces.
Arbor Week history
Arbor Day originated in Nebraksa in the United States of America in the 1870s. The pioneers missed the forests from their homelands, and on 4 January 1872, J.Sterling Morton, a journalist, proposed a tree-planting holiday to be called "Arbor Day" at a meeting of the State Board of Agriculture. The date was set for 10 April 1872. It was estimated that more than one million trees were planted in Nebraska on the first Arbor Day.
During the 1870s, other states passed legislation to observe Arbor Day.
Arbor Day has now spread beyond the United States and many countries observe the day.
Historically, South Africa has not had a culture of tree planting and it was not until the 1970s that a real need to promote tree planting was recognised. The concept of a National Arbor Day ensued from 1973 Green Heritage Campaign. Following requests from various bodies, the then Department of Forestry obtained approval in 1982 to establish National Arbor Day that has been in place countrywide since 1983.
In 1996, the Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry extended Arbor Day from one day to one week.
Arbor Week:
- promotes a better knowledge of trees, particularly indigenous trees
- stresses the necessity for everyone to plant trees and care for them
- highlights the vital role of trees in our lives
- contributes to the achievement of a green, dignified and healthy environment in all parts of South Africa.
Source: Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF)
Related link
