Africa: Spekboom bushes help fight climate change

Andre Britz parked his vehicle on a rocky mountain trail to showcase the spekboom bush’s environmental conservation capabilities in dry southern Africa. This 62-year-old man, originally from the Afrikaner community, is an ardent promoter of Portulacaria afra, known as spekboom in Afrikaans, a shrub with a reddish stem and green leaves which has the ability to absorb carbon dioxide.

“Here you can see the difference between the degraded soil and what we call the pristine highlands spekboom” he commented, pointing out the contrast of the densely green hillside and the arid side of the valley.

The plant It had a strong presence in the dry terrain of the Little Karoo, in the South African province of the Western Cape.

But decades of what Britz calls overgrazing and poor management have destroyed the shrub and the shade it provides to sun-battered soil, not to mention its ability to absorb carbon.

“He spekboom kidnaps carbon day and night. It is one of the few plants that do so.“Britz told AFP on a tour to explain his 10-year mission.

“The other thing is that this happens here naturally.”, he indicated. “That’s why it was important to plant spekboom here and have that additional effect on the climate change”. she added.

10 years ago, Britz founded Jobs 4 Carbon, an organization dedicated to promoting spekboom in an area where agriculture was devastated by the 2015-2020 drought.

Now he has a team of sowers who work with shovels and pickaxes in the rocky terrain to nourish the crops. new plants that will be able to cover the arid soil with green leaves again.

“Miraculous plant”

Nearby, a spekboom Planted two years earlier, it began to spread its branches. Jobs 4 Carbon began replanting almost 700 hectares.

“Brings life back to nature” declares Jan Cloete, 49, a member of the team, smiling.

For botanist Alastair Potts, 41, it is a “miraculous plant” in its ecosystem semi-arid natural.

“Create forest-like microenvironments” and one “rug” of leaves that “traps water, dust and nutrients”in addition to carbon, he explained.

He carbon It accumulates in large quantities due to this succulent’s rare ability to oscillate between two types of photosynthesis.

In hot, dry climates, the spekboom It sequesters carbon from the atmosphere at night and stores it in the form of malic acid.

During the day, the plant closes its pores, called stomata, to minimize water loss and uses its night reserves to carry out photosynthesis.

Experts have denied versions that the plant compete with the Amazon in terms of carbon absorption, but its defenders point out that it is quite effective when grown in its natural environment.

A 2006 study estimated that one hectare of spekboom captures an average of four tons of CO2 by year. Others estimate more than 15 tons.

carbon credits

Jobs 4 Carbon hopes to plant more and finance it with the sale of carbon credits, a financial instrument acquired by companies to offset their greenhouse gas emissions, but to make it viable, scientists must agree on how much C02 this succulent sequesters.

But Potts is optimistic. He spekboom It doesn’t have the problems of other tree-planting projects, criticized for creating monocultures in non-viable ecosystems, he said.

By restoring the environment, you help prevent emissions and soil degradation.

“I feel that carbon capture and spekboom They are the perfect combination”, he commented.

Jobs 4 Carbon, with funding from international foundations and companies, seeks to plant 13,000 hectares in the region, Britz said, but more can be done across the country, Potts added.

The group currently plants the bush for free if the landowner agrees to leave the land dormant for 15 years.

In his village churchyard there are 15,000 plants ready to take root in the arid soil. That reminds him of an old saying he heard from his grandfather: “Take care of your highlands, and your highlands will take care of you”.