​“There is an established link between human wellness and sustainable living. We're here to ensure that it remains a strong one," says Sibongumenzi Mtshali, the new Green Committee student co-ordinator at Stellenbosch University's Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS).

The FMHS Green Committee was established in 2009, and was the first committee of its kind at Stellenbosch University (SU). Under the leadership of Prof Bob Mash, executive head of FMHS' Department of Family Medicine, this committee has undertaken a number of initiatives aimed at improving students and staff members' relationships with their local environment.

A medical student herself, Mtshali explains that there are strong ties between nature and human health and that she is excited to be a part of this pioneering team. “It's really very simple. The less we harm the earth, the better the environment we subject ourselves to."

Echoing Mtshali's sentiment about the link between nature and health, Mash said that environmental stewardship – the responsible use and protection of the natural environment through conservation and sustainable practices – was recently adopted as a new FMHS graduate attribute.

“The links between public and planetary health are becoming clearer. Medicine and health sciences students must understand the links between the environmental determinants of health at a planetary scale, such as climate change and ocean pollution, and how this manifests in local communities and individual patients." He explains that students will need to ensure that the health system minimises its own contribution to environmental hazards and to this end, the FMHS has made environmental sustainability one of its strategic goals.

This year, the committee appointed Mtshali to ensure that students are aware of the Green Committee's many activities, including the most recent one – a reforestation festival hosted by the non-profit organisation Greenpop. Mtshali led a group of eight health science students to participate in Greenpop's festival at Platbos Forest near Gansbaai in the Western Cape's Overberg region. The students helped plant approximately 5 000 trees.

Says Mash: “Platbos is home to ancient tree specimens – many of which are over 1 000 years old – which creates a habitat for an array of biodiverse fauna and flora. This includes critically endangered leopard toads, mysterious bushbuck, twirling ferns, velvety mosses and bryophytes in every shade of green."

With reforestation, an area is cleared of alien vegetation – which poses a fire risk – and then “reforested" with endemic trees like Milkwoods and Wild Olives. This restores the indigenous forest canopy, the biodiversity that supports this and, in turn, the vital ecosystem services that this forest system provides.

The FMHS's Green Committee has been sponsoring Greenpop to plant trees in order to offset the Faculty's carbon emissions from air travel, in addition to the trees planted on SU's Tygerberg Campus every year. “We've also joined the Global Green and Health Hospital Network (GGHN), which means the FMHS has now committed itself to sustainable practice in the areas of leadership, energy, waste, water, food, buildings, travel, chemicals, biodiversity and procurement," says Mash.

To find out more about the FMHS'     Green Committee, contact Christine Groenewald (clgroenewald@sun.ac.za).

Caption: FMHS students helped plant approximately 5 000 trees at a Greenpop festival at Platbos forest.