Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment commemorates Indigenous Tree Day

The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) in partnership with the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo (JCPZ), International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Association of Parks and Recreation Africa (APRA) and private sector stakeholders, has commemorated Indigenous Tree Day (ITD) by planting indigenous trees at various sites across country on Tuesday, 15 April 2025. 

Tree planting activities took place at all 11 National Botanical Gardens, 2 National Zoological Garden, 3 Municipality Botanical Gardens and 1 Zoological Garden. This nationwide effort aims to plant at least 30 different indigenous tree species in the SANBI and municipality owned gardens to celebrate indigenous tree day. 

“The Indigenous Tree Day (ITD) aim to educate society about the value of indigenous trees, build national capacity to grow indigenous trees by increasing efforts into finding seeds of a large number of species naturally and sharing propagation protocols and best practices. The day also aims to engage, inspire, and educate society – especially the youth - to conserve biodiversity by developing community-led efforts to restore ecosystems. This date encourages individuals to consider their efforts in tree planting and the impact it will make towards the environment,” said Deputy Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Ms Bernice Swarts. 

The Indigenous Tree Day (ITD) will also serve as a build-up to the One Million Tree Planting Campaign that will take place on 24 September 2025. This nationwide initiative seeks to mobilise the public to collectively plant one million trees in a single day. The One Million Trees Campaign is a key milestone within the Revamped National Greening Programme which aims to plant at least Ten Million Trees over a period of five years. This will be achieved through the planting of two million trees annually. Through the Revamped Programme there is a realisation that government efforts alone will not achieve this ideal and there is a call for all South Africans from all walks of life to participate in the initiative. 

Further details regarding build-up activities to the One Million Tree Planting Campaign will be communicated in due course.

Enquiries:
Mr Peter Mbelengwa
Cell: 082 611 8197
E-mail: PMbelengwa@dffe.gov.za 

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