My love of trees started at a young age when my Grandparents introduced me to Enid Blyton's "The Enchanted Wood", "The Magic Faraway Tree" and "The Folk of the Faraway Tree".

Ever since, I've always felt a special connection when I'm surrounded by trees and now I understand why. Scientific evidence (read The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben) has found that trees are in fact social beings. Trees are like human families where parent and children trees live together, supporting and communicating with one one another through a complex route system affectionately known as the wood wide web.

Trees are the lungs of the Earth, only they exhale the oxygen we breathe in. Forests cover one third of the earth and as much as people like Donald Trump would like to say otherwise, climate change is a fact. Trees play an important role in our battle against climate change. They feed our rivers, purify our air and ground water and help regulate temperatures and the impact of storms and floods. They provide a living habitat to all forms of wildlife and also provide a financial living to many human beings. In short, trees are a gift to humankind and something we should not take for granted.

I've chosen to support Greenpop (greenpop.org) because in 2010, they started with a simple goal of planting just 1000 trees [the company I was working with at the time helped plant 6 of those trees] and since then they've planted almost 80 000 trees in Southern Africa.

On July 9th, I'm joining Greenpop at the Zambia Festival of Action where I will spend a week getting dirty... planting trees, growing food forests, painting eco murals at local schools and attending a host of sustainability workshops from bee-keeping to permaculture to upcycling and more.

You can help me reach (and even exceed) my goal, by buying a tree for just R120. Your living donation can be made in honour of a special occasion or a loved one, living or passed. Of one thing you can be sure... your tree will stand strong and proud for longer than most of us have left on this planet. In return for your donation I will do something special for you, just watch this space. Be sure to leave a special message with your donation so that I can pay homage to your kindness.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you!