More than 2 000 plants have been planted at a district hospital in Somerset West, as part of a three-year project initiated by Stellenbosch University’s (SU) faculty of medicine and health sciences (FMHS).
This is accordinging to Christine Groenewald, SU’s environmental sustainability coordinator.
The project, which entailed converting 397.5 m2 of barren soil into a fynbos garden, was the brainchild of Bob Mash from SU’s FMHS.
The goal of a greening project at Helderberg Hospital in Somerset West, is to restore fynbos vegetation to the hospital’s grounds, said Christine Groenewald, environmental sustainability coordinator at Stellenbosch University. PHOTO: Abigail Baard
SU’s FMHS had a long standing relationship with Helderberg Hospital sending many of its medical students there, said Mash.
The initial motivation for the project was to offset the faculty’s carbon emissions which came about through SU’s FMHS active initiative around environmental sustainability with the Global Greens and Healthy Hospitals Network, said Mash.
The department also noticed the hospital’s need for an urban greening project, and upon discovering the importance of ecosystem restoration and biodiversity the decision to plant a fynbos garden was made, said Mash.
The plants consisted of indigenous fynbos such as Swartland Shale Renosterveld as well as plants that have medicinal value, said Deon Louw from Greenpop.
SU’s FMHS engaged with Greenpop, an environmental service company, in this process, to help offset its carbon emissions, said Mash.
Greenpop works to “restore ecosystems and empower environmental stewards through forest restoration, urban greening, food gardening, and environmental awareness projects across Sub-Saharan Africa,” according to its website.
The project enabled a collaborative partnership between SU’s students, staff and community, said Mash.
Indigenous fynbos, as well as plants that have medicinal value, were planted on the Helderberg Hospital’s grounds during a three-year long project, initiated by Stellenbosch University’s faculty of medicine and health sciences, said Deon Louw, project manager from Greenpop, an environmental service company. PHOTO: Abigail Baard
Maintaining the garden
The project was crowd funded, with partial funding from social impact grants from SU, and was planned and managed by Louw, said Groenewald.
The three-year project entailed two planting days each year, the monitoring of the plants’ health, and the training of the hospital’s grounds staff to maintain the garden, said Groenewald. The Greenpop team made about 20 site visits during the duration of the project, she said.
“The grounds men […] really took to it. [They] took it really seriously,” said Louw.
The growth of the garden inspired the hospital grounds staff to go to different sections of the grounds and start planting more plants that were given to them by patients, doctors, and community members, said Louw.
The first planting day of 2024 took place on 3 August and the last will take place on 9 August, said Groenewald.
A total of 2 158 plants and 33 different species were planted on the grounds of Helderberg Hospital in Somerset West as part of a three-year greening project initiated by Stellenbosch University’s faculty of medicine and health sciences, said Christine Groenewald, environmental sustainability coordinator at Stellenbosch University. PHOTO: Abigail Baard
Providing a relaxing environment
The garden provides space for the hospital staff to spend their lunch time and recharge for their next shift, said Estie Vlok, a project coordinator from Helderberg Hospital.
“The garden project brought beauty to the often depressing environment of health challenges,” claimed Vlok. It provides a relaxing and healthy environment for the hospital staff and patients, said Groenewald.