Nella with Sean Privett of Grootbos on the World's Most Diverse Floral Kingdom

Grab your favourite bouquet and settle down to listen to Sean Privett speak about the Fynbos ecoregion at the bottom of the African continent around Cape Town. You don't need to be a plant expert to enjoy it (just listen to me!) - but if you ARE a botany enthusiast then you will be riveted and will want to get on the next flight. 

Grootbos Nature Reserve has documented 879 fynbos species; planted 7,557 trees for reforestation; identified 25 mammal species and 193 insect families. And those numbers are rising.  They have projects empowering young South Africans with careers, entrepreneurship and employment in classrooms, on cooperative farms and at a college for indigenous horticulture and life skills.

Grootbos's caretaker, Michael Lutzeyer, is part of the Long Run Initiative, an invitation-only group founded by Sir Richard Branson and Jochen Zeitz consisting of people in tourism dedicated to sustainability and to business in synergy with the 4Cs: conservation, community, commerce and culture.  Michael set up a meeting for me to speak to Sean, his mentor, and a man whose dedication to this land is hugely inspiring. (He's also one of South Africa's top paddlers!) So stop and smell the flowers! 

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