Creating future forest eco-systems through the reforestation program of Trees for Tourism, is not only about trees.
Forest eco-systems provide essential shelter and food for a plethora of creatures of all kinds. Many animal and bird species depend on indigenous forest and woodland as their only viable habitat.
The further the –presently three- reforestation sites of Trees for Tourism mature and develop, the more wildlife it will attract, shelter and provide with food.
From inside the forest floor to the highest little branch in the canopy, each layer represents a habitat for different species of animals.
On the forest floor, snails make compost by feasting on organic matter and porcupines loosen the soil by digging for bulbs and roots. Bushbuck nibble on fresh new shoots of the undergrowth in the middle of a large concentration of insects .
In the understorey, bees nest in tree-hollows which in turn attract the honey badger aiming for the larvae of the bees. In the canopy, birds of all sorts eat the berries of trees, preyed upon by the “boomslang” and other snakes.
Baboons prefer indigenous forest for overnight shelter, though nightblind as they are still an easy prey for the leopard.
