Gift a Tree to the Rainmakers!

If you'd like to Gift a Tree as a present for a friend email us at and we can arrange to send you a certificate to pass on to them!

With just £5,000 we can make sure that 2,500 indigenous trees are planted along riverbanks and in degraded areas of Venda’s sacred forests. The saplings are ready to go but money is needed to cover the costs of the planting, such as - local transport, tools and printing fliers to promote the tree planting and protection of the forests. Read on to find out why it is so important that this is done.

Gift a Tree

A donation of just £2 will see the planting of one tree in the sacred forests of Venda. Help plant one, two, twenty or a hundred trees - any contribution will be valued greatly.

We have fifty days to raise £5000.00. The rains have come so the planting must take place soon. We really need your support!!

Contribute for yourself or on behalf of someone else and send them the link to this page so that they can see what a wonderful gift you have given. If they appreciate the importance of the gift, we would suggest that they then pass your good deed forward and contribute on behalf of somebody else again. We hope that by creating a chain of giving, we can raise the funds needed by the Makhadzis, the rainmakers and custodians of Venda's sacred forests, to restore and protect their precious land.

We also hope that this short (but very jazzy) animation will spark your interest in the issues around Sacred Sites; the crucial role they play in maintaining biodiversity, ecosystems and cultural identity and their increasing vulnerability to commercial interests.

A Race to Protect the Sacred Forests

The forests of Venda (Vhembe district), in Limpopo, the most northern and most rural province of South Africa, help to maintain the climate of the region. They are the source of springs that feed into the local river system and provide water for the surrounding land and communities. The local VhaVenda people revere the forests as sacred - the places where the ancestors are present.

Venda forms part of the Soutpansberg mountain range and is well-known for its richness in flora variety and the cultural heritage of its people. But only 0.45% (less than 10,000 hectares) of Venda’s indigenous forests remain, and the region is threatened by the mining company, CoAL of Africa (Limpopo “boasts” 50% of South Africa’s coal deposits) and the expansion of commercial plantations. There is huge pressure on the precious water and forests.

It is the Makhadzis of Venda’s local clans who are the traditional custodians of the sacred forests. Makhadzi is the name given to women who are recognised as leaders in their community. This respected role includes safeguarding the sacred sites, among other tasks. They have also come to be known as “rainmakers” for their traditions and rituals which assure rain for the region.

Tree planting & food security

In 2009, a group of Makhadzis established Dzomo la Mupo, a community association “to protect Nature in all her forms, and especially indigenous forests”. With support and training from The Mupo Foundation, a small South African NGO, they have shared ways to improve their soils, water harvesting, seed saving and have set up their own tree nurseries.

“The home based nurseries have recorded over 2500 indigenous trees propagated and taken care of. These trees could green up an area of about 125,000m2, the size of about 20 soccer fields, being quite a contribution to Venda”. John Nzira, Community facilitator and permaculture specialist, 2011.

The results and the enthusiasm have been remarkable - increased soil fertility and food production, the revival of millet and other nutritious crops which had been forgotten, household seed banks, and family tree nurseries. These tree nurseries have a dual purpose: income generation, and to reforest the riverbanks and restore the sacred forests. 

Right now, the rains have come and the Makhadzis are calling urgently for support to plant the 2,500 seedlings they have been raising in their family tree nurseries. They need transport and some assistance with tools.

“There comes a time every year when the rain comes and we come together as a community to plant trees to support ourselves for the New Year. Our forests, cultural heritage, precious water and our very livelihoods are now under a new threat from a massive coke coal-mining project. It is important for our community to come together, stronger than ever in restoring our heritage and claiming our land. Tree planting does this”. Mphatheleni Makaulule, community leader and Mupo project officer, October 2011.

 

Huge thanks to DJ Oachkatzlschwoaf for letting us use his song 'Swing Suit Up' for free for the film! What a great Electro Swing tune!

If you'd like to learn more about the Makhadzis, their community association Dzomo la Mupo, or our partner organisation The Mupo Foundation, these links may be of interest:

• http://mupofoundation.org/our-programme/sacred-sites/
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-10866997
• http://www.gaiafoundation.org/content/makhadzhis-guardians-sacred-sites