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BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE PROJECT BY BANTU HOLOMISA, MP – CHAIRPERSON: CHAMPIONS OF THE ENVIRONMENT FOUNDATION AT THE LAUNCH OF THE AFFORESTATION PROGRAMME, KWANONGOMA, KWAZULU-NATAL 11 SEPTEMBER 2011 Programme Director, His Majesty, Oondlunkulu, Royal Highnesses, Honourable Minister of Environmental Affairs, Honourable Premier, amakhosi, executive mayors and councillors, honoured guests, reed dance participants, ladies and gentlemen, It gives me great pleasure to provide you with a brief background on why we are gathered here today at this official launch of the Enyokeni afforestation project, which is being implemented by TourismWorld, a KwaZulu-Natal based company, in conjunction with Usuthu Traditional Council. 1 I am grateful to His Majesty, King Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekizulu who showed keen interest in this project when I introduced it to him during my visit on the eve of his birthday last year. His Majesty immediately showed me a forest that he and the Reed Dancers had created many years ago. He encouraged me to bring as many trees as possible, as he would get young people and the Reed Dancers to partake in the tree planting ceremony. Mine is to say to His Majesty: “Mission accomplished Sir!”. The Enyokeni project follows our successful 2010 Hegebe land treeplanting project in the Eastern Cape, where we planted more than 3 000 indigenous trees during the first phase of the project. The purpose of these projects is to implement long-term strategies aimed at mitigating the negative effects of climate change and the reduction of carbon footprint. In addition, these projects will, inter alia, help restore eco-systems, create jobs, transfer skills and educate learners and members of the local communities about the effects of climate change. We believe that, once sufficient trees have been planted, they will assist in improving the rainfall in the area, which will benefit farming and grazing. These steps will contribute significantly in combating desertification, which poses a major threat to food security. 2 The Enyokeni project has created jobs for the local community. The community must nurture this project as you would care for your own children, so that it may grow into something that will benefit the whole community. This project should serve as a catalyst to be emulated by other villages in the province. I would like to take this opportunity to highlight that none of these projects would have been successful without the untiring support of the Department of Environmental Affairs. We thank the Department for its openness to new ideas and willingness to assist in projects aimed at combating climate change. Champions of the Environment Foundation is an autonomous, apolitical group formed to meet the urgent need for a coordinated campaign to heighten national awareness of environmental conservation issues and best practices benefiting the whole community and future generations. The Foundation collaborates with the private sector in the restoration of local eco-systems with the objective of not only uplifting the local community, but also creating a business model that would encourage other individuals and corporate institutions to contribute to environmental projects. The Foundation also assists the private sector to connect with relevant community and government leaders. 3 We have in our midst the CEO of Carbon Check, Mr Adam Simcock, whose company has recently been accredited by the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Executive Board of the United Nations (UN) as the only carbon emissions reduction accredited operating entity in Africa. Accordingly, Carbon Check has a critical role to play in the fight against climate change. For the sustainability of these projects, we invite companies to invest at Enyokeni Project in order to earn carbon credits. Carbon offset calculations will be applied to all the trees planted in this ceremony today. All the trees planted today are indigenous and come from KwaZulu-Natal. TourismWorld, the organisation responsible for managing the Enyokeni project took care of mapping sites, digging holes, measuring carbon baselines of the planting sites and storing the geo-database maps and associated carbon baseline information. I am confident verification by any accredited institution would doubtlessly confirm the work performed, adhered to professional standards. We thank you and the community of Enyokeni for your sterling work. 4 On behalf of Champions of the Environment Foundation, I would like to thank His Majesty, Usuthu Traditional Council and the Department of Environmental Affairs, as well as the office of the Premier, for accepting our proposal to have this project here. Champions of the Environment Foundation are proud to have been given the privilege to coordinate these projects for all the stakeholders free of charge. We would also like to thank Vodacom, SABC, Media24, Carbon Check and BMW South Africa for partnering with us in this important event. Our special thanks also go to the Reed Dancers. In the age where both human beings and the land are so easily ravaged by disease and neglect, the Reed Dancers are sending a vital message to the world. These young women are encouraged to place honour on physical status in the same way women in our communities are encouraged to spread the message about honouring our environment. Finally, the planting of the 34 000 trees on the land donated by His Majesty is indicative of his dedication to the protection of the environment and food security. 5 Let the message be as strong as these young women; as strong as His Majesty and His people; as strong as the voices of all South Africans. The environment is our lifeblood. If we protect it, we protect our future. Let us honour our planet, and by so doing, honour one another. I thank you. 6