Durban congress sheds light on plantations
The Women's Leadership and Training Programme of South Africa is encouraging delegates attending the World Forestry Congress in Durban to find balance between environmental and economic benefits.
The programme's Sbongile Mtungwa says the group, which works in various parts of KwaZulu-Natal has emphasized that plantations negatively impact on the lives of many rural communities.
She says people must not be fooled into thinking plantations are forests.
"Companies and industries benefit from plantations, but not people. The streams are drying up because many of the plantations are planted next to the river sources that women are also using.
In the past, they never understood what the problem was until we understood how the trees are sucking the water, compared to the indigenous trees," she said.