TIDMINQO
RNS Number : 7777V
Inqo Investments Limited
12 August 2022
Inqo Investments Limited
Inqo Investments Announce Major New Reforestation Project in the
Eastern Cape, South Africa as Part of UN Decade on Ecosystem
Restoration
Inqo Investments, a South African based Impact Investment
company listed on the Aquis Stock Exchange (AQSE), recently
announce an ambitious new project to reforest over 5,000 hectares
of degraded land on the Kuzuko Private Game Reserve in South
Africa's Eastern Cape. The project, one of the largest of its kind,
will make an important contribution towards climate change through
carbon sequestration, whilst restoring habitats to boost
biodiversity and creating jobs.
"The project is a direct response to the call for action by the
UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration for individuals and
organisations to rapidly upscale the implementation of ecosystem
restoration projects so that hundreds of millions of hectares of
degraded land are restored by the year 2030," said Anthony Mills,
founder and director of AfriCarbon, a South African based
environmental consultancy who are the project developers for the
reforestation project. "We are proud members of this global
movement that the UN Decade has triggered."
The reforestation project is a partnership between Inqo
Investments and AfriCarbon through its subsidiary, Spekboom Trading
and has been funded through a long-term agreement with
Reforest'Action, a B Corp certified reforestation specialist based
in Paris, France. The Kuzuko project is the first step in
Reforest'Action's and AfriCarbon's long term vision to plant more
than one million hectares of degraded thicket across the Eastern
Cape which, if achieved, will be a major contribution towards
climate change and biodiversity.
The project, which is set to begin operations on the 15(th) of
August, will see over 25 million spekboom (Portulacaria afra)
cuttings, an indigenous succulent tree that can grow to a height of
four metres, planted over the course of 18 months.
"I'm not aware of a restoration project globally, that focusses
intensely on restoring the intact original ecosystem, that has
operated at anywhere near this size and speed," said Mills. "It's
an exciting time for restoration ecologists and I'm itching to get
going and see the hundreds of people on site getting spekboom
cuttings into the ground."
The land at Kuzuko, like many parts of the Eastern Cape, has
been degraded by over 150 years of unsustainable goat farming
practices. The land was purchased in 2002 as a rewilding project
designed to create jobs in an area of 70% unemployment and has
since been operated as a 'Big Five' Private Game Reserve and Five
Star lodge. Despite the removal of goats, the indigenous thicket
vegetation has not returned in areas where it has been most badly
damaged.
Mills , one of the world's leading experts in thicket
restoration, has been successfully trialling ecosystem restoration
using spekboom for the last twenty years. Spekboom is an ecosystem
engineer, a species which modifies its environment creating the
conditions for other biodiversity to thrive.
When spekboom is replanted: fallen leaves are trapped by the
plant's stems and decompose to form new topsoil; the canopy slows
rainwater so reducing runoff and further topsoil loss; stems and
root systems allow the ingress of water into the soil increasing
moisture content; and the shade from the canopy reduces the soil
surface temperature and slows the rate of moisture loss - all of
which allow other species to flourish.
As well as being an ecosystem engineer, spekboom is adept at
capturing carbon from the atmosphere, with each hectare of
replanted spekboom capturing up to three hundred tonnes of carbon
dioxide over a thirty-year period. The Kuzuko project is verified
by the VERRA carbon standard so carbon credits can be issued for
the carbon sequestered by the spekboom thicket which will be used
to repay the initial investment, fund further restoration work and
fund additional social initiatives.
An important aspect of the project is job creation. Inqo
Investments is an impact investment company which intentionally
invests for social returns either through job creation or
enterprise-based solutions to service provision for the most
vulnerable in society. In addition to the jobs created during the
restoration work, a portion of project funds have been allocated to
social and environmental projects through the Kuzuko
Foundation.
The project will support two schools in the local area with
improvements to their IT systems, buildings and landscaping as well
as providing environmental education at Kuzuko's education centre.
The project will also support the Kuzuko Foundation's ongoing
projects including skills training for local communities, provision
of work experience opportunities and support for Kuzuko's
conservation programmes which include the wilding of orphaned and
captive born cheetahs to contribute towards diversifying the
genetics of the species.
Further Information:
Inqo Investments Ltd: https://www.inqo.co.za
Kuzuko Private Game Reserve : https://www.kuzuko.com
AfriCarbon: https://africarbon.co.za
Reforest'Action: https://www.reforestaction.com
Spekboom Trading: https://spekboomtrading.co.za
The Kuzuko Project: https://kuzukoproject.co.za
Research:
Mills, A. J., & Cowling, R. M. (2006). Rate of carbon
sequestration at two thicket restoration sites in the Eastern Cape,
South Africa. Restoration Ecology , 14 (1), 38-49.
van der Vyver, M. L., Cowling, R. M., Mills, A. J., &
Difford, M. (2013). Spontaneous return of biodiversity in restored
subtropical thicket: Portulacaria afra as an ecosystem engineer.
Restoration ecology , 21 (6), 736-744.
Enquiries
Inqo Investments Limited Tel: +27 (0)83 6254069
Chris Bertie, Chief Financial Officer Email: cbertie@acland.co.za
and Chief Operating Officer
Hobart Capital Markets LLP
AQSE Corporate Adviser and Broker Tel: +44 (0)20 7070 5665
Dr Wang Chong Email: wang.chong@hobartcapital.com
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