Fisantekraal volunteers plant indigenous trees along Mosselbank River

Over 100 trees were planted on Saturday as part of a wetland rehabilitation project begun in 2017.

Volunteers in Fisantekraal planted more than 100 indigenous trees along the Mosselbank River on Saturday despite rain, marking Earth Day and continuing a wetland rehabilitation effort that began seven years ago.¹²

The tree planting formed part of a project started in 2017 by the Mosselbank River Conservation Team to rehabilitate the Mosselbank River Wetlands.¹² The river is a non-perennial tributary to the Diep River.¹² Fisantekraal is a township approximately ten kilometres northeast of Durbanville.¹²

Danielle Cronje, director and co-founder of the conservation team, said the organisation had grown from five volunteers at its inception to about 35 volunteers.¹² "When we started here, there were no trees at all. We wanted this to be a space where kids can interact," Cronje said.¹² She said the tree-planting event also served to educate children in Fisantekraal about the environment.¹²

Volunteers planted several indigenous tree species on Saturday, including Syzygium cordatum, Olea Africana, Buddleja saligna, and Acacia galpinii.¹²

Antoinette Seronne, a resident who runs a soup kitchen in the community, said she had helped establish and maintain vegetable gardens for schools and homes in Fisantekraal.¹² "We want to make a change in our community ... I believe we must be hands-on to make our community look pretty and clean," Seronne said.²