SUGi Pocket Forests – Cape Town
From Cape Town's first SUGi Pocket Forest to creating a joint movement of thriving ecosystems, community, love, and joy.
After completing the SUGi Fellowship in 2021, Aghmad Gamieldien, founder of Mzanzi Organics and SUGi Forest Maker, has been planting pocket forests around Cape Town where they are most needed: transforming dumpsites and unused lots into spaces where community members can meet, interact, and reconnect with nature.
So far, SUGi supported the creation of four pocket forests, with another in the works for the fall: the District Six Heritage Forest. These efforts have involved planting over 4,500 trees of 22 native species, impacting over 2,600 youths.
The initiative, in partnership with local primary schools and community groups, not only introduces native trees and shrubs but also simulates the intricate layers of a natural forest, creating a self-sustaining ecosystem in the heart of the community. In short, the forests have become a hub for community engagement, serving as an outdoor classroom for local schools and a space where musicians create music alongside the students.
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Trees
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Native Species
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Youth Impacted
Khoi First Nations Forest
Preserving the traditions of the Khoi tribe.
Khoi First Nations Forest is a collaboration with the First Nations people, indigenous South African community. Planting a forest has reconnected community members with native tree species from the neighboring Table Mountain.
This forest is a local landmark and serves the broader community by educating visitors on endemic tree species, biodiversity, and the benefits of rewilding urban spaces in South Africa, where land remains a highly contested and complex issue.
Cape Flats Forest
Seeding a youth-led regeneration movement.
Cape Flats Forest was an ambitious project with an important educational aspect, that saw SUGi collaborate with SEED - a Permaculture Design School located in Mitchell’s Plein, just on the edge of Cape Town.
A SUGi Pocket Forest complements this green campus, which already features outdoor classrooms, compost toilets, food gardens and seed gardens. Cape Flats Forest creates an opportunity for the school to become a hub for future Miyawaki Forest Makers.
“We cannot ignore our history, we cannot ignore the apartheid legacy of how our cities were planned and we cannot ignore the fact that our leafy suburbs in Cape Town are only leafy suburbs because someone planted trees there 100 years ago. So these trees were not planted in the Cape Flats in our townships. This project that we’re doing is holistically looking at how we transform our townships into leafy suburbs. How do we create green spaces that are lacking?”
— Aghmad Gamieldien, SUGi Forest Maker and Founder of Mzanzi Organics
Schotsche Kloof Forest
Reconnecting children to Nature.
Located in this historic Bo Kaap district, this forest calls Schotsche Kloof Primary School its home. It has transformed a disused, unloved plot into a haven for biodiversity in this Cape Town suburb.
The forest provides important educational - and pastoral - enrichment to the school community, to pupils and teachers alike, who are able to observe rewilding in progress and take joy from having their own forest a stone’s throw away from their classrooms.
Langalibalele Forest
Cultivating a green oasis for community wellness and education.
The Langalibalele Forest, a project aimed at creating a lush green space, will be situated in the Cultural Hub of Langa Township on the shared sports field of Siyabulela Primary and Langa High School.
This initiative is set to benefit not only the two schools but also the wider community. The Forest will offer numerous advantages such as enhancing mental health and wellbeing, providing essential shade, and promoting wildlife habitat restoration.
Furthermore, it will offer outdoor classroom’s spaces for teachers to use during the summer season for natural science and biology subjects. Currently, the site is utilized for sports and recreation activities, but it is also subject to illegal dumping.
District Six Heritage Forest
Embracing renewal on Table Mountain.
In the heart of District Six, Cape Town, a Miyawaki forest is growing as a symbol of renewal and reconciliation. Nestled on the slopes of Table Mountain, this pocket forest will become a sanctuary, providing shade, an outdoor classroom, and a playground for children. Historically, the District Six community was severed from the land through forced removals, leaving this central location without green spaces.
It is the second Miyawaki forest in Cape Town City Bowl, situated next to the school's library. In a historic district marked by its past struggles, this forest offers a chance to rekindle the ecosystem, cleanse the air, and rekindle the spirit of a place where children can learn and play in the shade.
