Mistbelt Habitat Restoration Project

Forests for Life is dedicated to restoring forest and woodland ecosystems, effectively managing critical catchment areas, and improving the lives of communities who rely on forest resources across Sub-Saharan Africa. In partnership with Wild Bird Trust’s Cape Parrot Project in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, the Greenpop Foundation has been reforesting patches of degraded Amatole forest since 2019. By planting indigenous trees, this work serves to restore and expand the habitat of the endangered Cape Parrot.

Conservation Problem Statement:

The Cape Parrot is threatened mainly by habitat loss and disease, with only around 1800 individuals left in the wild. They, along with many other species, are dependent on Mistbelt forest habitat. However, this habitat near Hogsback, Eastern Cape, has been degraded by historical indigenous tree felling and lost by the conversion of indigenous forest to exotic pine plantations, with forest margins also affected by alien invasive plants. The Department of Environment, Fisheries and Forestry is mandated to restore this land, but is severely under-resourced. Villages and small communities surrounding these Mistbelt forests depend on the forests for firewood, housing materials and bushmeat.

Project Outcomes:

1. To contribute towards the strategic restoration of degraded protected land in Hogsback, Eastern Cape through tree planting and alien vegetation management.
2. To encourage natural regeneration which eventually mimics natural forest habitat, which helps to connect fragmented forest patches, and assists in the dispersal of plants and animals within and between forest and grassland mosaics.
3. To provide local communities with access to functional ecosystem services (increased water availability, reduced fire risk, improved soil quality), employment opportunities, and skills and knowledge related to ecosystem restoration.
4. To understand, document, and share the ecological and social contributions of ecosystem restoration interventions through robust monitoring.

No. of hectares under restoration: 21.6 ha
No. of trees planted: 1500 trees

For more information visit:
www.greenpop.org