Misha Teasdale

Misha Teasdale from Greenpop loves planting trees and is a big believer in the environmental space. His mission in life is to get active for the environment and not anxious about what’s happening in the world.

Gathering like-minded individuals he started a campaign that was to do so much better than he’d ever imagined, the success leading to the establishment of Greenpop as a social enterprise. Greenpop has by now planted over 100 000 trees in Southern Africa and they do a lot of environmental education around trees and alternate livelihoods, with urban tree planting and reforestation projects that rely on getting everyday people actively involved.

Greenpop runs projects around Southern Africa, specifically within South Africa. These include Hogsback in Eastern Cape, Platbos in the Overberg, indigenous tree planting in Tanzania, reforestation in Knysna and food forest projects in Livingstone. What excites Misha and fills him with pride is the number of volunteers who have added their support – and hands, to help plant trees at these projects. ‘Each tree that is planted is a legacy, a message and the start of a journey for the individual who is planting it.’

One of the brilliant things about Greenpop is that it allows for people globally to get involved in various ways. If you can’t come and plant trees yourself, you can hop on to the website to sponsor a tree, getting the co-ordinates of your tree in order to monitor it’s progress. You can join festivals, which always draw volunteers from around the country – and the world – that come together with the common goal of giving back, for example the Platbos Reforestation Festival that sees 700 people on site putting trees into the ground, singing and laughing as they do.

Other volunteer work with Greenpop involves joining the team to monitor the project from the ground, checking the trees’ survival rate, getting a better understanding of the data side of things and ensure that the right procedures are I place for maximum success. Greenpop have a nursery in Woodstock where volunteers can help get the trees ready for planting, with micro nurseries on the Garden Route, in Zambia and soon in Malawi.

‘Big change is being drive and as part of the awakening trees are being planted, there are ‘no to straws’ campaigns and recycling is beginning to form a natural part of our daily lives. Many people are more aware of the environment, which echoes what is happening on a global front with climate strikes and a consciousness catchup – it is very excited.’

Misha feels privileged to live in his home town Cape Town, which in his opinion is at the epicentre of what is happening on a continental scale from an environmental movement perspective. A place of beautiful nature that is massively cosmopolitan.

In 2008 Misha was part of an expedition Doing it For Africa, and drove from Cape Town to London overland, profiling NGO’s and community-based projects through 21 African Countries. In 2011 he landed Top 200 Young South Africans by the Mail and Guardian and in 2013 was nominated by Mail and Guardian and Department of Environmental Affairs as one of SA’s top climate change leaders. He has been included in Legacy Project hall of fame for those out to make a difference in the world.

When Misha isn’t planting trees, you can find him inspiring entrepreneurs or sprinting up Table Mountain. He is regularly invited to speak at conferences, workshops, and gatherings, from TEDx, United Nations, Pecha-Kucha and Universities globally. Telling his story and reminding how one man can drive his community to make a difference.

With a focus on nature-based solutions, Greenpop is an award-winning non-profit on a mission to restore ecosystems, regreen communities and empower environmental stewards across Southern Africa. Greenpop was founded in 2010 and has since planted over 100 000 trees, administering projects on climate change adaptation, community-based conservation and sustainable landscape management.