Overview:

Overall the reforestation efforts at Khoinania are proving successful and can be see by simple observation. Visually, FFL7A remains the most productive site with Site B/D also showing great success since last monitored in January 2024. Site C remains a somewhat struggling site, it is assumed that the exotic nursery trees do more harm than good. The Keurboom’s success is very low under the wattles as they are competing for the same resources and have the same ecological role. With ongoing work this is a great project to connect all the existing sites and create a larger landscape based reforested area.

FFL7 has shown the most complex variations between sites when compared to Greenpop's other Projects. Variables can be listed as different slope angles and gradients, water management activities, clearing methods, biomass management, amount of time after fire, species selection, human inputs among others.

FFL7A:

Visually this is the most impressive site at Khoinania with large Keurbooms, Yellowwoods, White Ironwoods and Forest Elders. There is also a wide variety of ground covers and other forest layers present. By looking at the drone photos one can see the success of the site with the dense canopy of Keurbooms. Some of the other species mentioned above are sharing the canopy with the Keurbooms.

FFL7B/D:

This site has done really well with the additional planting (Site D). The soil is covered with a Keurboom canopy and the water management activities are proving successful. There are numerous Keurbooms naturally regenerating in the area. Some of the seedlings are collected for planting at Site C. The sloped area of the site also has a lot of indigenous re-emergence making it more visually pleasing compared to how it looked at planting.

FFL7C:

This site has a lower success rate and less growth when compared to the other sites at Khoinania. The most likely cause for low success could be the exotic nursery trees left in the field before planting, although there could be other influencing factors. This is definitely affecting the Keurbooms as they have mostly died back under the exotics and are thriving in the exposed areas. Suggestions were made to possibly thin out the smaller exotics to create more light and better soil conditions for the indigenous trees to thrive

FFL7E:

Clear felling is in progress, similar to Site B/D, to prepare this site for planting. This site features less exotic nursery trees and is being readied for a high number of Keurboom to be planted. Multiple small burn piles instead of less large piles are going to be tested here, testing the theory that the Keurbooms might do better with lower intensity burns and higher availability of ash dispersed over the landscape. This will aim to minimize the scarring of burnt areas and help with creating a environment for Keurbooms to thrive. Black wattles on the edge of the site are being thinned and all exotics within the planting area are being removed The goal is to create a site with similar success to sites A and B/D.