CLIMATE · VERIFIED DEVELOPMENT
Spekboom Restoration Gains Momentum in South Africa’s Eastern Cape
WHY IT MATTERS
The restoration provides immediate employment and begins to rehabilitate degraded soils, contributing to long‑term climate adaptation and biodiversity in South Africa’s Eastern Cape.
What happened
On a remote hill in the Eastern Cape, a crew from Hive Ecosystems is planting thousands of spekboom cuttings to restore degraded land. The work is physically demanding: diggers use pickaxes to create holes, planters insert rooted cuttings, and runners ferry plants from a tractor‑driven nursery.
Despite the grueling process, the team remains upbeat, noting that the project offers much-needed work in a region with high unemployment and a stagnant farming sector.
The effort is part of a three‑part investigation by Mongabay, Stellenbosch University’s School for Climate Studies, and the Henry Nxumalo Foundation, highlighting spekboom’s role in ecosystem recovery and climate resilience.
PRIMARY SOURCES
South Africa’s new gold rush: Spekboom restoration speeds up, but it’s a bumpy road, insiders report
Mongabay · John Cannon · Discovery and factual synthesis only; publisher copyright terms apply