The “pocket forest” at Siyabulela Primary School in Langa, Cape Town, offers pupils an escape from the heat.

• Temperatures in a classroom at Siyabulela Primary School reached 42°C during Cape Town’s heat, making it difficult for pupils to concentrate.
• But the school’s 300m² “pocket forest”, planted with more than 1 000 indigenous trees, was 13°C cooler than the classroom.
• Teachers and environmental groups say the project helps pupils cope with extreme heat and brings green spaces to underserved communities.

As Cape Town sweltered in Wednesday’s heat, the temperature in one of the classrooms in Siyabulela Primary School topped 40°C. But grade 7 pupil Cebu Mnqwazi and his friends could escape to the school’s “pocket forest”, where the temperature was just 29°C.

The Langalibalele “pocket forest”, set up by the school together with organisations SUGi and Mzanzi Organics, is a 300-square-metre plot planted with more than 1 000 indigenous trees.

GroundUp measured the temperature in the prefab classroom at 42°C – too high for pupils to concentrate, says teacher Yamkela Dyakopi.

But with the temperature in the forest 13°C lower, pupils “can come outside and breathe”, says principal Sithembele Khamsholo, who oversees the use of the area for lessons and recreation.

“The forest gives me peace of mind,” said Cebu, who was involved with the planting of the forest two years ago. “I just like to sit in the shadow between the trees.”

READ | Cape Town sweats in 40°C heatwave

“We’ve measured temperatures in schools in excess of 40°C,” says Professor Caradee Wright, who served as technical advisor for the Department of Health’s National Heat Health Action Guidelines. “That temperature is not conducive to learning.”

She says:

Aghmad Gamieldien of Mzanzi Organics hopes the project will have longer-lasting impacts on ecological inequality.

“The forest is a way to deal with spatial apartheid,” he said.

“We’re bringing green spaces closer to communities instead of them having to travel out.”

At least for pupils of Siyabulela Primary, this approach seems to have taken root. “They own this forest,” says Dyakopi. “They feel like it is a part of them.”