Siyabulela Sokomani is an environmentalist and green entrepreneur who has worked in the horticultural industry for more than 17 years. He founded Nguni Nursery, a plant production nursery in Cape Town, South Africa. The nursery produces high-quality plants and tree saplings and makes them accessible and affordable to organizations that work on land restoration and greening projects and to the horticultural industry as a whole. He is passionate about growing trees and plants in large volumes to help scale up Africa's restoration goals. Siyabulela is also a co-founder of Township Farmers SA, a community organization that creates small-scale organic farms and environmental awareness in disadvantaged areas. Township Farmers' Running Tree Campaign holds marathons in which volunteers run with trees strapped to their backs to raise awareness about environmental and climate change issues. Siyabulela is one of five youth ambassadors with the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative, a partnership among 20 African governments to restore degraded forests, farms, and grasslands. After completing the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders, Siyabulela plans to further focus on restoring degraded lands and to offer jobs and green entrepreneurial opportunities to those in his community.
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