Inqo Investments Limited

Inqo Investments announces Completion of Major Reforestation Project at the Kuzuko Private Game Reserve

Inqo Investments, a South African based Impact Investment company listed on the Aquis Stock Exchange (AQSE), today announced completion of the planting phase of its ambitious project to reforest over 5,000 hectares of degraded land on the Kuzuko Private Game Reserve in South Africa's Eastern Cape. The project, one of the largest of its kind, will make an important contribution towards climate change through carbon sequestration, whilst restoring habitats to facilitate return of biodiversity and to create jobs.

"The project is a direct response to the call for action by the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration for individuals and organisations to rapidly upscale the implementation of ecosystem restoration projects so that hundreds of millions of hectares of degraded land are restored by the year 2030," said Anthony Mills, founder and director of AfriCarbon, a South African based environmental consultancy who are the project developers for the reforestation project. "We are proud members of this global movement that the UN Decade has triggered."

This restoration project is a partnership between Inqo Investments and AfriCarbon through its subsidiary, Spekboom Trading and has been funded through a long-term carbon finance agreement with Reforest'Action, a B Corp certified reforestation specialist based in Paris, France. The Kuzuko project is the first step in the long-term vision to restore more than one million hectares of degraded thicket across the Eastern Cape which, if achieved, will be a major contribution towards climate change and biodiversity.

The project, which began operations in August 2022, has seen over 30 million spekboom (Portulacaria afra) cuttings, an indigenous succulent tree, planted on 5,000 hectares of degraded land and created more than 400 local jobs.

Comment from David Louw, Director of Inqo Investments: "We are delighted that this project, one of the largest reforestation projects in South Africa, has had both an environmental as well as a social impact in our region. As the plants mature, we can increase the carrying capacity of animals on the reserve, increasing the area available for conservation work with endangered species."

"I'm not aware of a restoration project globally, that focusses intensely on restoring the intact original ecosystem, that has operated at anywhere near this size and speed," said Mills.

About spekboom:

Spekboom is an indigenous plant that grows in semi-arid conditions. When spekboom is replanted, leaf litter is trapped by the plant's canopy and decomposes to form rich new topsoil. The canopy improves infiltration of rainwater, reduces runoff and further topsoil loss. The shade from the canopy reduces the soil surface temperature and slows the rate of moisture loss. All of these factors allow other thicket tree and shrub species to flourish, and facilitate biodiversity return into harsh landscapes.

As well as being an ecosystem engineer, spekboom is adept at capturing carbon from the atmosphere, with each hectare of replanted spekboom capturing up to four hundred tonnes of carbon dioxide over a forty-year period. The Kuzuko project is verified by the VERRA Voluntary Carbon Standard and it is through this that carbon credits will be generated for each tonne of carbon dioxide sequestered by the spekboom, which will be used to recover the initial investment and fund additional social initiatives.

  About degraded land at Kuzuko:

The land at Kuzuko, like many parts of the Eastern Cape, has been degraded by over 150 years of unsustainable goat farming practices. The properties comprising Kuzuko were purchased in 2002 as a rewilding project designed to create jobs in an area of 70% unemployment and has since been operated as a 'Big Five' Private Game Reserve and Five Star lodge. Despite the removal of goats, the indigenous thicket vegetation has not returned on its own.

About social impact:

An important aspect of the project is job creation. Inqo Investments is an impact investment company which intentionally invests for social returns either through job creation or enterprise-based solutions to service provision for the most vulnerable in society. In addition to the jobs created during the restoration work, a portion of project funds have been allocated to social and environmental projects through the Kuzuko Foundation.

The project will support two schools in the local area with improvements to their IT systems, buildings and landscaping, as well as providing environmental education at Kuzuko's education centre. The project will also support the Kuzuko Foundation's ongoing projects including skills training for local communities, provision of work experience opportunities and support for Kuzuko's conservation programmes, which include the wilding of orphaned and captive-born cheetahs to contribute towards diversifying the genetics of the species.

Further Information:

Inqo Investments Ltd: https://www.inqo.co.za

Kuzuko Private Game Reserve: https://www.kuzuko.com

AfriCarbon: https://africarbon.co.za

Reforest'Action: https://www.reforestaction.com

Spekboom Trading: https://spekboomtrading.co.za

The Kuzuko Project: https://kuzukoproject.co.za

Research:

Mills, A. J., & Cowling, R. M. (2006). Rate of carbon sequestration at two thicket restoration sites in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Restoration Ecology, 14(1), 38-49.

van der Vyver, M. L., Cowling, R. M., Mills, A. J., & Difford, M. (2013). Spontaneous return of biodiversity in restored subtropical thicket: Portulacaria afra as an ecosystem engineer. Restoration ecology, 21(6), 736-744.

  K S Tan                                                                                              D A Louw

  Chairman                                                                                       Director

  Issued on: 22 July 2024

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