ReSpek Nature, founded by Ephraim Moss, is an NPC committed to supporting nature by helping individuals offset their carbon footprint. The impacts of rising carbon emissions include climate change, ocean acidification, and air pollution. To mitigate these negative impacts, individuals and society as a whole must reduce greenhouse gas emissions drastically. ReSpek Nature aims to plant Spekboom to capture carbon and to restore areas affected by overgrazing, invasive species, deforestation and erosion.
How Can The Spekboom Help to Restore Habitats?
The Spekboom (Portulacaria afra) is a South African indigenous plant with the astonishing ability to store carbon, which in turn helps to reduce carbon emissions in the air. This plant is a highly efficient carbon sink, which means it can absorb and store large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
In addition to its carbon sequestration capabilities; Spekboom also provides other ecosystem services such as improving soil quality, providing habitat for wildlife, and protection against erosion. Restoration with Spekboom in degraded areas can, therefore, not only help to combat climate change by removing carbon from the atmosphere but also contribute to the overall health and resilience of the ecosystem.
How Does ReSpek Nature’s Carbon Restoration Work?
Since almost everything we as humans do may lead to a rise in carbon emissions, it is crucial that we find a way to capture our emissions. ReSpek Nature aims to help individuals find a simple and convenient way to offset their emissions without even needing to leave their homes.
ReSpek Nature has teamed up with online merchants and some great E-Commerce partners, such as Shopify, Woocommerce and Magento & Wix, so you can easily give donations to offset the carbon emissions created by your purchase while checking out.
They also have various plans available on their website that you can subscribe to; individuals can contribute to the planting of between 10 and 35 Spekboom per month.
These donations are then used to plant spekboom that will, in turn, help to restore degraded land and sequestrate carbon out of our atmosphere and store it in the soil, reversing many of the adverse side effects that are often caused by human consumption.
Moreover, in the areas where Spekboom are being used to rehabilitate the landscape, local communities will benefit from the creation of meaningful environmental restoration jobs.
How Much Does It Cost To Plant a Spekboom?
ReSpek Nature makes it easy for individuals to contribute to the reintroduction of Spekboom. With the various plans on their website, you can contribute to this project from R15 per Spekboom.
Fun fact: Each contributor that helps ReSpek Nature plant a Spekboom will receive their very own certificate with the coordinates of the Spekboom they helped plant (accurate within one acre), which means that you can even keep track and find the Spekboom that you have helped plant.
How The GCBR and Jobs for Carbon are Getting Involved.
ReSpek Nature has partnered with Jobs for Carbon (a Gouritz Cluster Biosphere Reserve project) to plant Spekboom in degraded areas in the Klein Karoo where they used to grow. Local people are employed to sustainably harvest spekboom cuttings from the veld; propagate the cuttings in the spekboom nursery until they become rooted and then plant the rooted Spekboom in identified areas. The project brings positive change to both the local community and the environment and aims to heal a broken, dying landscape, and a marginalised and isolated community.
By planting Spekboom, you can also help restore your community and live a carbon-neutral life. To learn more about how you can get involved and make a difference, get in touch with ReSpek Nature today at enquire@respeknature.org or subscribe to one of their plans (https://www.respeknature.org/plans/personal)
