In partnership with the longstanding Comrades charity, the Wildlands Conservation Trust, Comrades-sponsor Bonitas will ensure that each runner in the 2011 edition of the world famous race leaves behind a living legacy of his or her race.
For every runner who tackles the gruelling 87km run, Bonitas and Wildlands will plant two indigenous trees.
In the four days leading up to the ultramarathon, the Comrades Bonitas ReLeaf Campaign will plant 30 000 trees in the deforested area around the Cascades Shopping Centre in Ferncliff, Pietermaritzburg.
Each indigenous tree that will be planted by ReLeaf has been grown and nurtured by Wildlands’ Sustainable Communities project “tree-preneurs” –vulnerable community members who grow trees in exchange for desperately needed food, clothing, building materials, water tanks, school supplies and fees and other goods.
“In the last two years, our tree-preneurs grew more than 350 000 trees for our greening and reforestation projects, worth R1.8millon in goods for battering,” says Wildlands Wild Series manager, Heidi Mocke.
In addition to the Bonitas ReLeaf Campaign, Wildlands has other fingers in the Comrades pie this year. A number of runners will be raising funds for Wildlands’ projects by running in the Trust’s “Run Green Run Proud” T-shirts, and merchandise sales at the Comrades Expo will help ensure a greener future for all South Africans.
For info nozipho.ngwazi@bonitasmarketing.co.za
Fast facts: Runners in the 2009 Comrades consumed 1 350l of Coke and Cream Soda, 5.4 tons of bananas, 448 pockets of oranges, one ton of chocolates and 400kgs biscuits.