The Future of the Amazon Foundation

The Future of the Amazon Foundation focuses on specific climate action with regards to climate tipping points and first and foremost on averting the immediate danger of the dieback of the largest rainforest in the world with climate consequences for the whole world as well as climate action focused on the regeneration of nature and degraded lands as a way to improve the local and global hydrological cycle in interaction with vegetation and specifically with tropical rainforests, in order to temper extreme weather events and even open possibilities to help cool the planet.

 To help create alliances, and tool sets based on technologies of blockchain, smart contracts and DAOs as well as other cutting-edge technologies to scale regenerative action.

While the foundation itself is small, it is part of a huge global network of organizations and people all passionate to make the great turning towards a sustainable future. We liaise through a number of organizations to the global rural and urban poor as well as other grassroot organizations focusing on improving the local quality of life.

Target group

The youth is our focus as well as pushing the world to finance a regenerative economy and make climate action something that is sustained financially, with a huge focus on rectifying the immoral inequalities and destructive nature of the current system.

Partners

Our network is part of a large global alliance of around a hundred organizations.

Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve

The Kogelberg biosphere reserve was the first biosphere reserve in South Africa. Covering an area of more than 103 000 ha (approximately 254 518.5 acres), this pristine biosphere reserve falls within the heart of the Cape Floral Kingdom – the smallest and only wholly endemic floral kingdom in the world!

Apart from the 1 880 species of Fynbos, the biosphere reserve also includes a marine component which boasts more than 3 500 endemic marine species, leading it to being proclaimed a Protected Marine Area. In order to support thriving societies in harmony within the biosphere:, the KBR needs to ensure cooperation between all role players, including government institutions, NGOs, farming, fishing and other commercial interests. To achieve this, the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve plays a central coordinating role, bringing commercial entities and residents together to strengthen collective action.

Alien clearing project

Our project to clear invasive alien plants in threatened fynbos in the Kogelberg Biosphere has received new momentum. A huge thank you to the Western Cape Department of Agriculture, LandCare division, for funding clearing work starting in July 2024, in cooperation with the Groenland Water User Association.

A team of 12 will be working in Critically Endangered Kogelberg Sandstone Fynbos and Ruens Silcrete Renosterveld. The goal is to reduce flammable material to reduce wildfire risks, conserve water, protect fynbos, and create employment for a small business owner and his team.

We’ll be working in partnership with Arabella Hotel Golf & Spa, Southern Sun, to focus on removing Australian myrtle, Port jackson, Black wattle and other invasive plants. We’ll also assist landowners at Ithemba Property and Agriculture to undertake follow-up clearing on the areas previously worked on.

Situated in the north eastern part of South Africa, straddling two provinces (Limpopo and Mpumalanga), this biosphere reserve incorporates two of South Africa’s key tourism sites- the Kruger National Park (the largest national park in South Africa) and the Blyde River Canyon and includes one of the leading floral hotspots in the country, the Wolkberg (literally ‘Cloud Mountain’) Region.The current boundaries of the registered Biosphere reserve extend from the Letaba River (in the north) to the Sabie River (in the south) and the Blyde Escarpment in the West to the border with Mozambique in the East.

K2C have multiple initiatives which promote, demonstrate and support a balanced and sustainable relationship between socio-economic development, the conservation of biodiversity and the sustainable use of natural resources on which people’s livelihoods depend.

Dinkwanyane Water Smart Project

A collaborative project between K2C BR, Conservation South Africa, and the Hoedspruit Hub, the Dinkwanyane Water Smart Project is implemented in the catchment of the K2C biosphere reserve’s core zone areas.

The overall objective of the programme is to establish a learning site that showcases the benefits of a climate adaptive green economy, where integrated sustainable land-use practices                                                 enhance and maintain ecosystem services while simultaneously contributing to sustainable livelihoods and resilient communities.

The CWBR shares its southern border with the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve and is found close to the Cape West Coast Biosphere Reserve (to the west of the CWBR). These biosphere reserves are all located within the Cape Floral Region, the smallest and most diverse of the six floral kingdoms of the world. The CWBR also forms an integral part of the Cape Floral Region Protected Areas World Heritage Site and is made up of a very unique and beautiful landscape. Furthermore, the CWBR is the source of seven rivers within one of South Africa’s Strategic Water Source Areas, and provides nearly all of the water for the greater City of CapeTown.

Citizen Scientists

This project focuses on water pollution and the adverse effects this has on local communities and citizens as a whole. Working with the premise of ‘citizen scientists’, local community members are trained on how to perform river monitoring field surveys (instrumentation, data recording and reporting) to identify key pollution indicators which will give them a good idea of what land uses are contributing to the localised water pollution. They are also taught how to do various water quality tests (pH, water velocity, miniSASS, an ecological health test, etc.), and biodiversity monitoring (SASS5 macro- invertebrates) to determine what state the river is, as well as to capture data via an app about the river, which is then sent to the department of Water Affairs, to be input into their databases. They are also taught about river healthy and what can be done to improve their local rivers and streams to ensure water safety and security for their communities.

GWANISHI, as an entity,  was formed in July 2021, with the objective to capitalize and expand upon the decades of work of a team of South Africans with a proven track record in land restoration and experience across a multidisciplinary spectrum. With the help of this experienced, highly skilled and diverse team, GWANISHI aims to generate sustainable profits (through trading in carbon credits) and transform the rural areas of the Eastern and Western Cape Provinces through redeveloping ecosystem infrastructure.

Decades of excessive livestock browsing and bad farming practices in the Spekboom thicket (Portulacaria afra — called the porkbush in English and gwanishi in isiXhosa) have resulted in the unfortunate degradation of this vegetation type. This has led to large-scale soil erosion, resulting in the formation of large gullies (called dongas). This has resulted in land with poor soil quality which is no longer capable of providing employment or income, leaving the local communities in a hopeless situation.

To restore ecosystem services, GWANISHI has developed a novel technique which allows spekboom to optimize restoration activities throughout the project’s lifetime, increasing the likelihood of success and the rate of returns. They develop methods which work with local labour, allowing maximum job creation without sacrificing efficiency.

For a site map of the project, please see: Uilenkraal Project.

The Greenpop Foundation is an environmental NPO focused on “sustainable urban greening and forest restoration projects, spreading environmental awareness, and activating people to become environmental stewards across Sub-Saharan Africa”. Each of their projects falls into one or more of the following categories: forest restoration, urban greening, food gardening and environmental awareness. Greenpop partners with and contributes to many local environmental and social initiatives, as well as aims to create a space to learn and share skills necessary to combat issues which affect our planet as a whole.

The Uilenkraal Forest Restoration Project (Forests for Life) is one of several forest restoration projects Greenpop runs throughout Sub-Saharan Africa and is centred around reforesting Africa’s southernmost forest. This project focuses on restoring the indigenous relic forest (some trees are over 1000 years old!) by removing invasive alien vegetation and reforesting degraded areas with indigenous trees from the project’s indigenous tree nursery. The four current sites on which this project runs are Platbos Reserve, Bodhi Khaya, Blomerus and Kleinbos.

Platbos has been severely degraded and overrun with invasive alien vegetation, which is being painstakingly removed and replaced with trees indigenous to the area, and had been severely harvested for fuel and marketable wood. The restoration of Platbos through this collaboration has resulted in over 145,000 trees being planted.

Bodhi Khaya links the Platbos Reserve to the Grootbos Reserve, another ‘old growth’ forest stand in the Uilenkraal Valley. This project site not only works towards ecorestoration and carbon sequestration but also works towards alien clearing, water conservation, organic permaculture, education and socio-economic upliftment programmes (to mention a few).

Blomerus is a property situated between Platbos Forest Reserve and Bodhi Khaya Nature Retreat. This property has patches of indigenous forests and fallow agricultural land in need of restoration. The work conducted on this property will complement the ongoing restoration work within the Uilenkraal valley, through active indigenous tree planting and the completion and maintenance of a fire break which protects both Platbos and Blomerus.

Kleinbos is situated on the top section of Platbos, which has been able to extend the existing firebreak onto Kleinbos, delineating the line between fire-prone fynbos habitats in the top section of the property, and the forest at the bottom section. This firebreak stretches across three properties partnering with Greenpop to conduct restoration-related work and will allow the extension of Platbos forest to its historic extent, considering the changes within the burning and non-burning communities within this area.