GreenPop, one of South Africa’s fastest growing Greening and Reforestation projects has made rapid progress in the last two years, and is set to continue to do so, if they can keep up their impressive momentum.

What started out as an idealistic plan to plant 1000 trees during arbour month in 2010 has developed into a thriving, powerful young organisation which, in the words of Misha Teasdale (one of the founding members), “ is really starting to make ripples.”

In the last two years Greenpop has planted roughly 12 000 trees in communities in and around Cape Town, and, together with support from hundreds of local and international volunteers, has recently planted another 4 135 trees in Zambia, one of the world’s most rapidly deforesting areas.

The Trees For Zambia project took place over just three weeks, and brought together from people of all walks of life, uniting them in the common act of restoring denuded landscapes with indigenous saplings. However, the event wasn’t only about planting trees; it also included workshops with local farmers and schools showing the importance of conserving the natural environment and identifying alternatives to cooking with wood collected from the surrounds, such as making solar cookers from recycled materials.

Wanjira Mathai, daughter of the internationally respected leader Wangari Mathai, who founded the Green Belt Movement in Kenya, supports the work of GreenPop, and offered an inspiring and motivating video messaged to all the volunteers involved in the Trees for Zambia project. Receiving accolades from one of the region’s most recognised and impactful environmental organisations is due recognition of all the hard work the GreenPop team and its volunteers have put in since 2010.

GreenPop is committed to the Trees For Zambia project and has pledged support to small scale nurseries in the area in preparation for another project in the region around the middle of next year.

To view a beautiful short documentary by Makhulu Productions that was filmed during the Trees For Zambia project follow this link. Support the creation of a full length feature documentary here

The dynamic and lively young group is showing no signs of slowing down and is constantly on the lookout for more volunteers to assist with planting days, so get off your couch, join the Treevolution and become a change maker.

Go to www.greenpop.org for more information, or visit their facebook page here.