The Paarl Arboretum is a ‘Green Gateway’ that connects people and nature and promotes education for sustainability.

The Paarl Arboretum Climate Park is an interactive Climate-Smart River Park that promotes sustainable behaviour in the community and improve the capacity for climate change adaptation and mitigation. It aims to provide a space to educate local school children, through a low impact classroom as well as outdoor classrooms, on climate change, the natural environment, biological systems and sustainability.

A series of climate smart park informational & educational posters have been installed along trails that focus on different aspects of climate change.

The theme of each loop was determined by the characteristics of the space. They have been named using Latin words descriptive of their theme, following on from the Latin word Arboretum which means “a place grown with trees”. These are “Umbra” (Shade), Aqua (Water) and Caeli (Climate) Trails.

The main concept for the Arboretum is to promote the climate awareness programme is using materials and that would function sustainably and using renewable energies on the principles of Re-use, Reduce and Recycle (RRR).

Additionally, outdoor spaces have been developed to further highlight the theme thought the integration of natural outdoor classrooms for informal and interactive learning placed in shaded areas throughout the park. These classrooms have been installed using natural materials preferably found on site, using the principles of RRR, namely logs and tree stumps which can be made into seating, play items and art installations carrying the Climate Smart theme throughout the park. The degradation of the tree stumps over time, represents local ecosystems at work and hence the carbon cycle.

Tree groupings that create enclosed spaces can be used as smaller classrooms or secluded picnic sites.

In future, art installations will be placed throughout the Arboretum.Art installations could include permanent “natural” artworks/sculptures that degrade over time (biological art) as well as rotating art work by local artists (community art). Themes related to climate change would help to continue the Climate Smart message throughout the Arboretum.

This initiative was funded through Engagement Global, FKKP Funding Programme for municipal climate mitigation and climate adaptation projects.

The question that must now be raised is what should give direction to design? What are the qualities
that the plan should be seeking to achieve? There are seven of these which are particularly important.

Sustainability
While the term is over-used, the issue of sustainability is of great importance. It has many shades of
meaning but, in this case, there are three which are particularly important:

• Ecological integrity. New activities should not diminish the bio-diversity of the site or its
  ecological functions
•  Perceived value. For the park to prosper, it must be seen as a resource for everyone in the
  town, not just a select few. At present, the range of users is limited.
• Fiscal sustainability. While the park will never be totality self-supporting (very few, if any,
  public spaces in the world fully pay for themselves) nevertheless it should contribute to
  income-generating opportunities and should be low maintenance.

Integration
This lies at the heart of the challenge of the site. It has four shades of meaning:

• Integration of the currently divided town. To do this, it must be seen as a resource for all the
  people of Paarl and beyond;
• Integration with the surrounding urban fabric, including any future development to the north
  and east of the site;
• Integration between river and mountain habitats;
• Integration with the heritage assets of the town: it should contribute to the total package of
  assets which lie in the centre of town.

Equity
The central issue is equity of access. The park should not be only accessible by motor car but should
be closely integrated with the non-motorized transport (NMT) network of the town, including the
railway station.

Safety and Security
It is obviously important for the park to be as safe as possible. While certain management instruments
can be considered (for example, security controls or important: closed-circuit cameras), there is a
considerable body of international evidence to show that the most important factor impacting on
safety is surveillance – human eyes over the space. How the edges of spaces are made, therefore, is
of great of the site or its ecological functions; significance.

Diversity
The park has different qualities along its length. This suggests that different parts, should be treated
differently and that diversity of activities should be increased.

Respect Uniqueness
The site is unique. Three factors contribute to this:

• The range of tree species types, most of which are in good condition;
• The relationship of the arboretum to the river;
• The unique composition of tree-types into continental clusters.

This uniqueness should be respected and, wherever possible, enhanced. The approach to design
should therefore be minimalist.

Climate Responsiveness
A characteristic of the arboretum is that all tree-types are related to Mediterranean climate conditions.
This principle should inform all new actions.