Carbon footprint on doorstep
2009-05-28
Lise Beyers
HE has a dream - to extend his carbon footprint right across South Africa. And in doing so, Carl Pretorius has established the largest indigenous tree nursery in South Africa, Just Trees, right on the doorstep of Paarl. Close to the Nuwedrift Road between Paarl and Wellington, and just a stone’s throw from Mbekweni, lies his nursery, consisting of 120 000 perfectly grown and irrigated trees on 20 hectares of land. Pretorius came up with the idea of the nursery after visiting a similar one in Dallas, USA. That tree business, which spans 1300 acres and stocks 500 000 trees, dwarfed anyything Pretorius had seen in South Africa, and he immediately realised that there is much potential for such a business in South Africa. Back home, Pretorius approached horticulturist Bruce Stewart to help develop the nursery and set up the business with co-directors Peter Ethelston and Oliver Ryder. Pretorius sourced all the ingredients, Stewart brought the horticultural knowledge and the other directors saw to the financial backing. Within three years the Paarl farm was transformed into a state-of-the-art nursery. And now thousands of trees which have been cultivated at Just Trees are adorning golf courses, municipalities, parks, shopping centres and sport stadiums throughout South Africa. Currently the nursery is working around the clock to supply indeginous trees for planting at various stadiums and municipalities in preparation for the 2110 World Cup. The Soweto municipality alone aims to plant more than 300 000 trees in the area before the event. The team at Just Trees rigorously maintains the quality and consistency of all their trees in stock, as the quality of the final product enhances the impact of landscaping. Their trees are grown in 40, 100, 400 and 1000 litre recyclable containers for easier handling, as well as minimal disturbance to the root system. They have approximately 50 species of trees in stock. They are also water-wise in their irrigation tactics, not putting a single drop of water to waste. Apart from Pretorius having established a successful business, which has created much needed local employment, he is also ‘greening’ surrounding areas. He has earmarked four schools in Mbekweni to whom he will be donating trees. He has also donated trees to Bridge House School near Franschhoek, where learners have been tending to the trees for the past year, and these too will then be donated to needy schools. This while the the nursery is being systematically extended to double its current size. This may be a small footprint for Paarl, but a giant one for the environment.
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