ReSpek Nature has partnered with Jobs for Carbon. The literal expression of the project is the planting of spekboom cuttings in areas where it used to grow but has been degraded. The cuttings are sustainably harvested from healthy stands of spekboom, by local people who are employed through the project.
Spekboom does not recover naturally even if livestock pressure is reduced, therefore in order to restore this type of vegetation active rehabilitation measures need to be employed.
The indirect benefits of the project are far-reaching and indeed possibly not all even quantifiable - in addition to job creation and restoration with the intent of carbon farming, the project influence has permeated through the local community bringing tangible positive change to the lives of individuals directly and indirectly involved in the project, whilst simultaneously restoring the degraded landscape with spekboom.
Trite as it may sound, the project in its essence is about healing that which has been damaged: healing a broken and dying landscape, and healing a broken, marginalised and isolated community.