Green Matters

A Manifesto to Travel By
Every journey comes at a financial cost, an environmental cost, and a social cost. Before booking a flight, ask yourself: Are these quality miles? Find the answer not on a spreadsheet but in your heart. Purpose-driven travel! ... Read More

Find out about ‘Fynbos’
Coming up on October 08th in our new webinar series, is The Cape's spectacular botanical landscape.
Three renowned ''green'' experts will show you what makes this the world's richest natural garden.
Adam Harrower of Kirstenbosch, Ernst van Jaarsveld of Babylonstoren, & Sean Privett of Grootbos!
It's spring time here - and we are bursting to share our botanical bounty ... Read More

Beguiling Botanical Whimsy
One of South Africa’s most sought after illustrators has created a classic botanical chart in a fresh style that is beautiful as a work of art as well as functional. The Flowering Plants of South Africa features a collection of 85 interesting and indigenous plants that includes the plants’ scientific names, bugs & critters used for pollination ... Read More

The World’s Oldest Pot Plant
This cycad is a reminder of my Eastern Cape roots and an opportunity to show you a dell full of cycads in Kirstenbsoch Botanic Garden. South Africa has such botanical riches and eye-opening green bounty ... Read More

Blank Page For New Beginnings
Disasters are known as powerful ignition tools for radical ways of transforming business practices. To harvest emerging ideas trend forecaster Li Edelkoort is organizing a platform to counterbalance the World Economic Forum - The World Hope Forum ... Read More

Creative Trailblazer
Louis Schwartzberg is an inspiring visual artist who celebrates life and reveals the mysteries of nature, people and places ... by providing breathtaking imagery using time-lapse, high-speed and macro cinematography ... Read More

Random Acts of Wildness
“A lot of little random acts of wildness can lead to something amazing” since we are actively turning to nature for comfort and solace in a very scary time. Join in. Become more conscious of the biodiversity crisis and more aware of other species ... Read More

Captivating Win
The mission of the Blood Lions Campaign is to increase awareness around interactive captivity wildlife attractions & “canned” hunting. It is a “call to action” around how to treat wildlife ethically ... Read More

An African Conservation Hero
Visionary pioneer Garth Owen-Smith said: 'Conserving our natural environment will not make you materially rich, but there is no greater satisfaction than having made our planet a better place to live on, even if it is just in a very small way’ ... Read More

Crises Create Opportinities
Could this be a once-in-a-century opportunity to reset the economy and to escape the clutches of high-carbon industry that have caused the climate catastrophe? It's a lifetime chance to shape the future, not just respond to it, and requires a collaborative approach between all spheres of society ... Read More

Intrepid, Courageous Path-Blazer
A visionary who used trees as an instrument of civil disobedience, started a movement that reimaged the ecological and economic landscape and modeled a new form of civic agency for nature & humanity, is Wangari Maathai, the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize ... Read More

Art that Works
Stationery that stops aliens and thwarts a silent killer! By handcrafting beautiful art that works (as opposed to works of art), planting seeds of inspiration, and growing sustainable solutions ... Read More

A Song To Wash Your Hands To
Since we are being compelled to transform our social behaviour worldwide, we share this in the hope that it reminds you of South Africa's zest for life, and energy-bursting talent ... Read More

An Epic Journey. The longest-ever recorded in history
How about a good news travel story? Apart from record-breaking, isnt this journey so inspiring? Outdoing any bird, fish or mammal ever tracked. It's the longest-ever recorded of any animal in history!
... Read More

Ray of Hope / Revenge of the Pangolin?
The Chinese government has placed an immediate ban on the illegal trading of wildlife and the consumption of wild animals ... Read More

Wise Words From Global Gurus
As a species, our best design stories still lie ahead of us. For over 25-years, Design Indaba Cape Town has presented a slew of visionary thinkers whose innovations have truly shaped our globe ... Read More

The Greatest Luxury Of All
The most valuable thing on the planet isn’t money or the material things it can buy. It is time. So it’s not accidental that we talk about “spending” time, as if it were money ... Read More

Connecting Cultures
Music is an extrordinary example of how culture connects us and can help us to imagine and build a better future. Cellist Yo-Yo Ma believes there are many more - and has set out to prove it. What better way to step into a new decade than this video with a powerful message? ... Read More

Cape Town voted best city in the world
The votes have been counted, the results are in ... the greatest city in the world is a coastal gem, ... Read More

Time for The World’s Greatest Places
The World's 100 Greatest Places of 2019 of TIME magazine revealed three Southern Africa inclusions. Lekkerwater and Omaanda to stay in, Wolfgat to dine at. ... Read More

The Most Beautiful Places in Africa
Out of a compilation of The 50 Most Beautiful Places in the World by Conde Nast Traveler, here are five of their greatest African hits: awe-inspiring wonders and out-of-this-world landscapes for the very top of your travel list
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The Elephant In The Room
A behind-the-scenes look at the global wildlife tourism industry that shows how animals are treated once the selfie-taking crowds have gone
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Cape Town – The World’s Most Biologically Diverse City
The Cape is home to the smallest of the planet’s six floral kingdoms, & the Cape Floral Kingdom has a high number of unique species found nowhere else on Earth
... Read More

D is for Dropping Pounds
A-Z Guide of Not Killing the Planet when you Travel: Conde Nast compiled 26 do-able steps for eco-friendly travel. This is about the cosequences of overpacking ... Read More

Wanderlust Renegades : Part 4
If you’re travelling and start to ask yourself, I wonder who came up with that clever idea? People who travelled ... Read More

Bringing Gold Home
The award-winning display at The Chelsea Flower Show was inspired by the diversity of South Africa's Floral Kingdom where designer Leon Kluge shows that South Africa is home to many worldwide flower exports ... Read More

Wanderlust Renegades : Part 1
If you're on a trip and start to ask yourself, I wonder who came up with those e-scooters? Or the ... Read More

African Responsible Tourism Winner
Grootbos Private Nature Reserve outside Cape Town just announced as overall winner of the African Responsible Tourism Awards at the World Travel Market Africa, 2019 ... Read More

Some Wandering Renegades
Inspiring People Changing The Way We Travel / David Attenborough - whose aim is to remind people of the interconnectedness of living things ... Read More

Why Jimmy Fallon Wanted a South African on The Tonight Show
When Jimmy Fallon heard that one of SA's finest wildlife photographers was Martha Stewart's ranger on her "incredible" SA safari, he just had to interview him. ... Read More

The Case For Visiting Cape Town
You really can't overstate the case for visiting Cape Town. It's just come tops in the Telegraph award for The World's 50 Best Honeymoon Hotels & Destinations ... Read More

What a Teenager Said To Jane Goodall
A young South African has made a big splash at the World Economic Forum (WEF) with legendary wildlife activist Jane Goodall MBE ... Read More
Bottom Up Resilience In Africa
The challenges faced by Africa's rapidly growing cities are unique. Chief Resilience members from Accra, Addis Ababa, & Cape Town share how their cities are working to solve these ... Read More

Caution: Penguins Crossing
Some good news events formed part of the celebrations focused on creating awareness of the endangered African penguins and marine conservation ... Read More

Park & Play with Panoramic Views
Battery Park is Cape Town's new urban park connecting the V&A Waterfront to the city. It’s a green space with a series of scenic routes, recreation and retail activities - to say nothing of spectacular views ... Read More

When Nature Is A Feast
Through her lifetime of research and books, Renata Coetzee has built both national and international awareness of the culinary heritage of various cultural groups in South Africa ... Read More

Keeping The Dream Alive
''The only walls between humans and elephants are the ones we put up ourselves'' ... Francoise Malby-Anthony carries on Lawrence's dream ... Read More

Unfurling Spring Bounty
Go hunting in the first wildflower national botanical garden in South Africa. Explore the world's richest natural garden - the Cape Floral Kingdom ... Read More

Truth As Timeless As The Baobab
Treat children and animals with kindness, and pass this wisdom on to generations to come says Credo Mutwa, whose cosmology is a lodestar to us regaining balance & harmony in Africa ... Read More

South Africa’s 10th World Heritage Site
Mountains referred to as the ‘Genesis of Life’ with the best preserved ancient rocks on Earth, contain the oldest signs of life in the world ... Read More

Quality With A Conscience
A paper cutout inspired by the pincushion protea - and a play on the word “froufrou” - generating two local initiatives we love ... Read More

Finding Gems Among Aliens
The biggest private project of its kind in South Africa - a pioneering alien vegetation clearing project at Vergelegen wine estate revealing natural treasures of indigenous vegetation ... Read More

Another Chelsea Gold
South Africa's culturally-oriented display features not only our unique flora, but also the Cape Flats, where Apartheid shunted people to divide black from white ... Read More

Being The Sea Change You Want To See
Here's to the UN Environment Goodwill Ambassador, ocean advocate and pioneer swimmer Lewis Pugh, in his quest to drastically reduce single-use plastic items in our daily lives ... Read More

Conscious Cuisine? ‘A Drought Kitchen’
South Africa's No.1 restaurant is transforming its must-visit The Test Kitchen into a Drought Kitchen for a reduced-water dining experience ... Read More

Water Blues
A solution to the current crisis is to take ongoing measures to ensure that we live both water-wise & considerate lives … irrespective of climate change challenges ... Read More

Putting Sleeping Dogs To Good Use
An incredible anti-poaching rescue program in Africa has proved that rescued dogs have the ability to help fight the global war on animals ... Read More

Distillation of Nature
Sculptor Dylan Lewis has moulded 7 hectares into an undulating landscape that mirrors the contours of Stellenbosch Mountain towering above it, and displays his sculptures to perfection ... Read More

Blooming Marvellous
Spring bursting out of it's little buds in the Southern Hemisphere, it is particularly joyous in Africa with the stark landscape contrasts ... Read More

A Moral Duty
To know elephants is to fall in love with them. It seems unthinkable that wild elephants should disappear. How can we make sure it doesn’t happen? ... Read More

Top Food Trend is War on Waste
Waste Not, Want Not: Sustainable cooking tips from South Africa’s most famous culinary export & Michelin Star star, Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen ... Read More

”Under the Shadow of Wings”
A striking contemporary chapel in South Africa created as an inclusive space where people of all religions can find spiritual connection ... Read More

And the winning photo is ….
If you followed the Africa Geographic Photographer of the Year's weekly summary, you'll be delighted to see who the 2017 winners are! ... Read More

Prestigious Wins
Decanter recognizes South Africa’s reputation as a world class wine producer & Chelsea Flower Show awards it a gold ... Read More

A Beacon That Welcomes
You've seen so many images of Cape Town's iconic Table Mountain - which IS a World Heritage Site with good ... Read More

Signs That You’ve Been To Africa
This smile-inducing list of ''Signs That You’ve Been to Africa'' got us wondering what your take home impression of Africa is? Please share it with us on our Facebook page ... Read More

Windows on Biodiversity
South Africa is home to nearly 10% of the world’s plant species ... hence its theme at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show in London, the most prestigious flower show in the world ... Read More

Ethical Photos?
Fed up with being treated like a human safari during township tours in Cape Town, some ''locals'' responded. See how the ''privileged'' reacted
... Read More

The Most Beautiful Places in Africa
Africa has something for everyone. Landscapes as diverse as its animal kingdoms. See these images from bone-dry deserts to iconic urban skylines ... Read More

Only a ‘Small Window of Time’
Other than massive investment in Africa’s mines, China is also a big market for elephant tusks & rhino horn, which has driven poaching to alarming heights ... Read More

The Voice Of Our Planet
David Attenborough "probably has done more than any single individual to crystallize for the world why taking climate change seriously is a moral and an existential imperative" ... Read More

Spring is in the air
The Cape Town Flower Show showcases sustainability within urban living & celebrates the Cape’s floral bounty & beauty ... Read More

A Legacy Project of Vast Proportions
The idea is simple and elegant: use green tourism to fight poverty. Compassionate capitalism, creating a socio-economic shift that will change realities forever ... Read More

P is for People, not Parking Bays
PARK(ing) Day is an annual, open-source global event to temporarily transform metered parking spaces into temporary public places, or 'parklets'
... Read More

Responsible “petting”
Do you want to pat/walk/feed a lion cub or ride an elephant? Look at the bigger picture ethically & see what happens to the animals long after you've left ... Read More