Pietermaritzburg Campus Arbor Day 2009
12 trees were planted on the 75th Avenue - a student walkway from Commerce to Agfac. The only Tree of the Year relevant to the area is the Tree Fuschia (Halleria lucida). Some of these were planted along with White Stinkwood (Celtis africana), Acacia sieberana var. Woodii and Acacia swazica. Fruit juice and sandwiches were enjoyed by all afterwards. The Finance and Law Departments also participated by planting small trees around their buildings.
Previous Arbor Days
Staff of the Faculty of Education at UKZN planted indigenous trees on the Edgewood Campus sports grounds on September 11 2007 in support of Arbor Day.
The trees were provided by Mr Kevin Crampton from the UKZN Horticultural Unit and the activities were organised by the School of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education (SMTE) together with the Edgewood Environmental Forum.
Dr Ndaraj Govender, Head of the School of SMTE, said it was extremely encouraging to see selected areas of the campus now flourishing with flowers, birdlife, indigenous shrubs and trees. He added that indigenous trees were essentail to reduce the impact of global warming, soil erosion and also provide a haven for animal life. The trees of the year for 2007 are the Common Wild Currant (Rhus pyroides) and Poison Bride's Bush (Pavetta schumanniana).
Ms Hayley Bentham, co-ordinator for the Arbor Day events, said staff and students were also involved in the labelling of trees. The Dean of Education, Professor Renuka Vithal, pledged her full support for environment initiative on the Edgewood Campus.