Forests for Life

Misha is the founder and Tree-E-O of Greenpop, a South African environmental organisation on a mission to get active (not anxious) about the future of our planet.    

In 2010, after a global filming trip, Misha wanted to plant 1000 trees in 1 month to compensate for all the flights. Fast forward 10 years and he is still planting - 130000 trees are in the ground and thousands of people have been inspired to become active citizens!  

In 2008, Misha drove from Cape Town to London profiling community-based projects through 14 African countries.

He has been named one of Mail and Guardian's Top 200 Young South Africans, one of SA's top climate leaders, one of South Africa's Legends for his life's work in making the world a greener place, among other awards.

When he is not planting trees, you can find him inspiring activists and entrepreneurs or sprinting up Table Mountain.

I am committed to the complex problem of planetary destruction through eco-system collapse. 

Greenpop's Forests for Life programme aims to grow a culture of protecting the forests we do have and restoring what we’ve lost. We identify areas in need of reforestation, assess community needs relating to forests and then plant thousands of indigenous trees (the correct species for the area) with the local community. We empower people through training sessions on sustainable development topics identified by the community (alternative livelihood activities that value in-tact forests like beekeeping, edible insects, superfoods, farmer managed natural regeneration, food forests etc.)

I believe in reconnecting people and the planet. Through the restoration of eco-systems and self, we can regenerate our thriving planet, uplift communities in need and reconnect people and nature - elevating humanity through the practical physical improvement to our planet and through breaking the myth of separation.

Forests provide vital services to both people and the planet, bolstering livelihoods, providing clean air and water, conserving biodiversity and responding to climate change. They act as a direct source of food, medicine and fuel for more than one billion people globally.In Sub-Saharan Africa, 61% of continent's population rely heavily on forests. 

In addition to helping respond to climate change and protecting soil and water, forests hold more than three-quarters of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity, provide many products and services that contribute to socio-economic development, and are particularly important for hundreds of millions of people in rural areas, including many of the world’s poorest.

However, in Sub-Saharan Africa, forest cover is decreasing at an alarming rate of 3.4 to 3.9 million ha/per year. From unregulated logging (often by foreign companies), to clearing for cash crops, to overuse of trees for fuel, human activity is putting increasing and devastating pressure on forest and woodland ecosystems.

"The world’s response to climate change – in terms of adaptation, mitigation and resilience – must focus more on forests." (FAO, 2018)

Greenpop’s Forests for Life programme aims to grow a culture of protecting the forests we do have and restoring what we’ve lost. 

We identify areas in need of landscape restoration (reforestation in particular), assess community needs relating to forests and then plant thousands of indigenous trees (of the correct species for the area) with the local community. We also hold training sessions around relevant sustainable development topics identified by the community (alternative livelihood activities that value in-tact forests and can bring income to people like beekeeping, edible insects, superfoods, farmer managed natural regeneration, food forests etc.)

In 2012, Greenpop began collaborating with nature conservancies, private landowners, and key stakeholders to undertake a small-scale reforestation and alien clearing project in Africa's southernmost forest, the Platbos Forest Reserve. Since then, our work has expanded to include over 80,000 trees planted in reforestation projects in South Africa, Zambia, and Tanzania.

We conduct monitoring and evaluation at key times throughout the project to continually learn and adapt for best results in each area. With 8 years of experience and learning, we are ready to scale up and grow a legacy of eco-system restoration in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Forests for Life directly serves communities that live alongside degraded forests areas in Sub-Saharan Africa. As a South African organisation, Greenpop is acutely aware of the complex challenges associated with indigenous forest management in Sub-Saharan Africa. As such, we design our projects with a pro-community stance that recognises the local threats to reforestation success, identifies local community needs, and incorporates solutions that benefit both forests and people. Through facilitated community engagement processes, we dialogue with communities to understand the full spectrum of the problem specific to their areas and their needs. Each site thus has different solutions alongside the tree planting. Some communities need additional income as cash and have a route to market - here beekeeping for honey and bee product production could be a solution. Other communities need fire wood or fuel and have been cutting indigenous forests for this - here they might want fast growing woodlots for fuel and reforestation of their indigenous forests.

A forest system also supports the ecological function of a broader landscape. Functioning ecosystems support communities that live downstream, who will also benefit from reduced flood risk, erosion etc. 

Overall, Forests for Life benefits everyone - we all breathe the same air!

Climate change is one of the most difficult problems in the world. Forests for Life builds awareness and drives action in two ways: 1 - Local communities are engaged and solutions are created from within the community to drive action - planting trees, actively restoring landscapes and protecting forests. 2 - Awareness is built among global communities through the media where we tell real inspirational stories. 

We also align with the 3rd dimension - we host active citizenship events at some sites. Immersive experiences and cultural exchange are powerful in changing behaviours.

In 2010, I was flying home to Cape Town after travelling to 12 countries on four continents, as part of a film crew documenting youth football development. Although the adventure allowed for incredible personal growth, I was aware of the negative impact of this lifestyle on the environment. I had a vision of planting 1000 trees in the under-greened schools of my city as way to connect South Africans from different backgrounds, give back and green the city.

I gathered a group of friends, and over dinner one night, I asked then to join me. The goal?  To mobilise volunteers, companies and enough funds to plant 1000 trees and green the grey area of our city.

We fundraised in all sorts of crazy ways and after the final tree had been planted, we went back to our day jobs. 

However, my phone did not stop ringing! People saw the value and wanted trees. I realised that there was a huge need for an organisation which connects people and the planet and so I decided to focus all of their energy on making it a reality.

And, Greenpop was born.

When I was born, my father was deported and my mother was unable to care for me. I ended up in a foster home. Here, I experienced a huge amount of compassion from my foster mother, Margaret. Over the years, I began to understand the value of this gift. 

I studied industrial design - giving me an understanding of how to rapidly prototype, to think about problems and how to see the full picture. We need  a critical approach to the way we find the leverage points in our human systems in order to land on eco-centric, nature-based solutions. 

In my twenties, 5 friends and I drove from Cape Town to London. This expedition was an incredibly humbling. I witnessed nature in all its majesty. We hiked with Gelada baboons in the Semien Mountains, we experienced flooding in the Namib desert and watched the desert turn from brown to green. On the other side of this, we also experienced poverty and environmental damage of epic proportions. 

My life experiences have shaped me. They've inspired me to care beyond the people and spaces I see daily. They've given me passion for finding nature, conserving nature and seeing nature as my teacher. 

A friend's mom once called me a Human Doing - I love to make things happen! Coming from a difficult childhood (being fostered and having few resources), I decided at a young age never to let circumstances decide the outcome. I am determined to follow through on all my projects, spread positivity and inspire action. I am a connector and risk taker. I believe in mobilising my community to help me in my projects - this has been one of the key successes at Greenpop. I also have resilience and staying power. Greenpop started as a side project while I was doing film work and could have stayed small. Through intense passion and working from the ground up, I have built the organisation over 10 years and now employ up to 12 people at a time plus multiple volunteers and contractors.

Greenpop, with myself at the helm, is perfectly positioned to scale up Forests for Life. I have a team of experienced development practitioners and we have already been doing this for 8 years with very limited resources. We have a proven track record of working in these areas, mobilising funds, people and media. 

In the last 10 years I have built Greenpop and done impactful work. In the next 10 years, I am ready to take this to the next level - my vision is to build a legacy and make a dramatic difference. That means driving a movement to restore nature and our own humanity here in Africa.

Greenpop was born out of planting trees in under-greened urban spaces in the Western Cape. Eight years on, Cape Town experienced one of the biggest droughts ever recorded. This meant that our urban programmes had to pause immediately because of the initial water needed for urban trees. By this stage, we had planted 15000 trees in over 400 urban locations. This Urban Greening Programme was the cornerstone of our organisation and brought in a great deal of interest and funds through corporate facilitated tree planting days.  With the drought's grip getting ever tighter, we had to adapt or stop. 

We were known for tree planting in Cape Town but I needed to pivot our programme to stay relevant - and fast! My answer came in Fynbos. I dared my team to create a risky campaign called Got Bush (Fynbos is a bushy plant), of partly naked, well known environmental activists. This captured the imagination of a global audience. Our Fynbos for the Future programme now works in collaboration with local government, and through it, is spearheading the citywide strategy for urban greening. 

This drought challenge was an huge learning for me and Greenpop and we are now better for it.

In the beginning of Greenpop, on a cold early morning, I planned to load a ton of compost with a group of volunteers. None of them arrived, which left me shovelling manure alone in the rain. A job that would have taken 20 minutes, took me 2 hours. With each shovel full, I found solace in value of learning. I realised I needed to shovel shit, otherwise I'd be disconnected from all the elements of being the leader of a movement which is about being active. 

Years later, while also shovelling compost, I recounted this moment to 100 volunteers that were working with me. We laughed while the truck was quickly filling up. That dusty day in Zambia, we planted 2000 trees. The compost, unlike the first experience, was loaded up in minutes. 

Finding these bridging moments that value the hard work of others, while also creating the perspective of what is possible, moments that unite us and humble us at the same time - that is what leadership is about for me. 

I am one man, yet through consistently reaching out to my community and always being the first to get stuck in, I have managed to plant forests. 

Anyone can plant trees! What makes Greenpop different is how we do this. We make environmentalism fun and accessible for all. We have built a large audience over 10 years and people are inspired. People want to start Greenpop's everywhere and we want to facilitate this. We used to say that they can just plant trees until we realised there is something more in what we do. To inspire people and bring joy to the most important work of our time, is to make it appealing for everyone.

During 2020, we aim to plant 21000 trees through Forests for Life. In 5 years, we want to scale this and plant 500 000 trees by 2025.

Barrier 1 - financial. We need scaling capital to allow us to reach the larger numbers and make real impact through large-scale ecosystem restoration.

Barrier 2 - land and ownership. We need to find appropriate sites and communities for trees to be planted and restoration to be done. This is possible but requires detailed research, visits and community relationship building.

Barrier 1 - financial. We are fundraising in all the ways we know how. We are applying for grants and awards. We are also looking at the carbon space which may be able to provide investment funding for eco-system restoration soon.

Barrier 2 - land and ownership. We are partnering with key stakeholders in different countries to build solid relationships and ensure we are empowering communities and learning continuously.

On communications campaigns and events - WWF, Greenpeace

On project work - Rainforest Alliance, IUCN.

Our primary funding comes through a monthly tree Pledge partnership which allows us to build our growth strategy according to the consistent funds we receive: https://greenpop.org/corporate-pledge-partners/

Over and above this we have adhoc funds that come in through these mechanisms:

Grants and Special donors: https://greenpop.org/grants-special-donors/

Monthly Giving: https://greenpop.org/donate-monthly/

Activists for Trees: https://greenpop.org/start-a-fundraising-project/

Additionally we sell tickets to attend our reforestation festivals and conference style events. See www.reforestfest.com and www.festivalofaction.com 

Lastly, we are in the process of developing our first Forests for Life community partnership into a landscape based project through a Project Development Document. Globally, increased recognition is being given to the importance of a landscape approach to land management which achieves social, environmental and economic goals in order to overcome the challenges of land management that have resulted in declining agricultural productivity, negative impact on environmental services and a host of other ecological and social issues. By adopting a landscape oriented approach, local projects can address the drivers of degradation from a holistic perspective which achieves both ecological and social outcomes, while better addressing the trade offs between conservation and development. Additionally, this approach can increase socio-ecological resilience to climate change and land use change. Funding landscape based work of this scale has a good deal of interest in the current development space given the growing concerns around the reduction of landscape degradation. 

See budget below

 For Forests for Life 2020 goal of 21000 trees, we have raised the funds ($8 a tree = $168000). We have been able to get to around this number year on year for the past 3 years. With COVID-19, the numbers are decreasing for the 2021 year where our tree goal scales. In order to reach our goal of 500 000 trees in 2025, we need to raise the trees for 2021 to 2025 which would be a total of $2.3 million. We have various fundraising streams so this award does not need to cover the full amount.

The goal for 2021 is 50 000 trees.If we see this as our first milestone, we are looking for $400 000 to set us on our path for success.

We would like to achieve our big goal of 500 000 trees by 2025 despite the set backs of COVID-19. $300 000 would allow us to plant 37500 trees which would set us on a very good trajectory to scaling year on year. We believe that by giving ourselves a solid funding foundation, we will be able to increase our reach with regards to the community who help us raise funds and initiate our various projects. To date our growth has always been a chicken and egg scenario, where building our organisation has only been incremental as we havent been able to bring in the sufficient staff and capacity in our programs and fundraising. 

We are on a mission to scale our work, in order to both inspire others, and create massive impact in the projects we implement. With sufficient scaling capitol we will be able to extend our fundraising method into more nuanced and market related industries. These include, carbon offset through bio-sequestration, risk mitigation through insurance companies wanting to reduce potential for damage to property via wildfires, and ecosystem services which is able to attract major funding given the potential return on investment. Through local case studies surrounding the benefits of restoring ecosystems, there is evidence that supports the investment in green infrastructure versus grey infrastructure with a cost benefit ration of up to 15 times what was invested.