By Denisha Anand
 
Platbos Forest has gained several thousand new trees - with the help of our Lotus Princess Vlei Guardians.
     Throughout the years, our Eco Guardians from Lotus High School have been hard at work planting indigenous plants, propagating for their own nursery and diligently greening their school, all while having fun!
    Lotus High Eco Club has been coordinated and managed by science teacher Shafiek Isaacs. Our relationship with the school grew through our citizen science project aimed at encouraging high school learners  to gather ecological data for Princess Vlei. Our citizen science project fosters custodianship through environment activities aimed at reconnecting learners with their natural environments.
     On the 15 of March, 15 Eco Guardians took their green conscious spirit to Platbos Forest to help plant trees at the Greenpop Reforest Festival. The learners were accompanied by Shafiek Isaacs, Denisha Anand (Princess Vlei Manager) and student assistant Tihana Nathan. Platbos forest is a rare coastal indigenous forest near Gansbaai, with many very old milkwoods, stinkwoods and other forest trees.
We arrived at Platbos around 13:00 and registered at the Greenpop Reforest Fest table where we were shown to our tents. The learners were bursting with excitement. Colourful tents were scattered everywhere and a forest backdrop set the tone for what would be one of the best out of community experiences for all!
     The learners settled in and began exploring - for many their first experience of a safe space in the forest where young girls and boys can just be themselves. As their eco facilitator, I was overflowing with happiness to see my kids interacting with what would be called “bos” back at Princess Vlei. They were so overwhelmed by being “out in the open”, no walls, just plant “borders”, and all commented on how wonderful it was to be in a space free from litter and loud noise. The freedom to explore a natural space was so good for them. They needed to see nature in a state where it does not need to be saved or policed, just loved and explored for what it is.
     The weekend was a learning experience for all of us. I was confronted with teenage antics, which was both terrifyingly humbling and hilarious. The learners did not like the vegan food, they made sure that I knew this at every meal but they understood why plant-based lifestyles were good for their bodies and the environment. Despite this, they participated enthusiastically in all the experiences. They enjoyed the workshops, especially the yoga and loved the Heart Space, a quiet spot for reflection.

     On Saturday, the Guardians helped to plant 2300 trees with other Reforest Fest-goers in an area previously consumed by alien vegetation. The learners thought that it was so cool that they would be creating a new patch of forest from trees propagated from the original forest. Baby trees from mommy trees to reclaim our indigenous forests. Genius!
     Later that afternoon Bridget, Gary and myself, had the opportunity to share on our work as a forum and the progress made over time as a civic lead organisation. To conclude our presentation our Eco Guardians suprised everyone with some forest poetry (see their poems below).
In preparation for our Platbos adventure, the eco guardians created beautiful forest poems. They edited their poems under the Old Milkwood Tree in the forest and channelled the forest energies to create the most magical pieces of art. Three learners, Nicole Anthony, Damica Fortuin and Widaad Abrahams shared their experiences with an amazing audience of encouraging people at the Thetha: Canopy Conversation space.
     Elzanne Singels, a Paleo-Ethnobotanist from UCT, gave everyone a taste of what our ancestors might have eaten. She specialises in understanding the diets of the Western Cape's earliest residents, and in creating food from local indigenous fynbos plants.

     The evening ended beautifully with members from an indigenous revival group performing a ritual under the Old Stinkwood. A cultural experience that captured every fest-goer's heart. The ritual honoured our ancestors, the forest and  all who have connected with nature to protect and serve her.
Francois and Melissa, the owners of Platbos, hosted us for supper - they were so happy to meet the kids. It was truly a perfect end to a perfect day. The kids were so happy with their non-plant based boerie rolls!
      Great music took us into the evening and I sat and reflected on the experience under the open sky.
As a young environmental educator and conservationist, this experience was life changing. I realised how important reconnecting people, more importantly youth, to green spaces is. Not just the orthodox style of teaching EE, facts and doing tours around parks and reserves. But true immersion. Opportunities to breathe, touch, smell, hear and even taste, nature in its purest form. The need to see natural spaces in pristine environments is vital, it gives us hope in urban conservation spaces where we’re trying rehabilitate pockets of remnant vegetation and doctor ecological drivers.
The youth need to see this, they need to see more success stories so that they know what to fight for and what to live for. The Eco Guardians from Lotus High have been exceptional and we look forward to our journey back to Platbos in 2020.
     A huge thank you to Greenpop, Krige Trees, Platbos Forest and Princess Vlei Forum for making this happen, and thanks to to the Hans Hoheisen Charitable Trust managed by Nedbank Private Wealth for funding our education projects. Thanks also to the following Eco-Guardians who came along: Damica Fortuin, Zoe Paulsen, Widaad Abrahams, Shannon Everson, Chandre November, Terry-ann Goliath, Jay-lee Marthinus, Ferdous Noordien, Cindy April, Amin Groves, Shakeel Groves, Rowan Hendricks, Letino Watson and Nicole Anthony.
So many laughs were shared and so much growth came from this journey.

Our Princess Vlei puppets were proud to be part of the youth strike against climate change in Cape Town on March 15. The puppets have been created by school learners for the Princesss Vlei Forum's annual Flight of Dreams parades through Grassy Park.

The puppets were carried by a group of the Harmony Primary Environmental club, who joined undreds of students at the protest. The protest was part of the wave of youth protests that was sparked by Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg, who began the Friday school strikes to try to raise awareness of the need for urgent action to try to prevent fossil fuel induced climate change from being even more destructive. Similar protests took place in other parts of South Africa, and accross the world, under the hashtag #ClimateStrike.

In Cape Town, over a thousand learners from numerous schools across the province gathered with bright coloured posters outside Parliament. They chanted, “Stop denying! Our earth is dying”, “Mother earth, can we fix it? Mother Earth, yes we can!” and “Change your mind, not your planet.”

Sarah Farrel, one of the organisers, said that the protesters were demanding that government halt new fossil fuel projects. They also called for much more renewable energy by 2030. “We want it to be right, front and centre, because it is exacerbating poverty. It is making peoples lives worse,” she said.

Recent extreme weather events, such as Cyclone Idai and Cyclone Kenneth which have devastated Mozambique, the floods in KZN, and severe droughts in parts of South Africa highlight the destructive impact that Climate change is already having on humans and environment. The UN IPCC special report has warned that governments have ten years to bring greenhouse gases emissions under control, to  avert runaway climate chaos and climate tipping points which might make the planet uninhabitable. We would like to salute Harmony Primary learners Julius Bolligelo, Hannah Elliot, Sixolise Yohane, Chloe  Sardine and  Musa Khumalo for giving up the first afternoon of the school holiday to raise awareness of the critical need for governments to act urgently and effectively in tackling this issue.