N E W S & V I E W S • S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 4 7 which promotes fair trade for producers and workers who are at a socio-economic disadvantage to access a wider range of social and economic benefits – such as preferential pricing for the oil. A portion of the sales’ price is retained by the certification organisation, which is then paid out for social projects that are decided on by a committee made of up of staff and community members who have been voted into this position by the community. Apart from the permanent staff positions on Lodewykslust Estate, the community is also benefitting from the essential oils. Forestry activities take the environment into consideration during the entire rotation starting from cool burns in preparation for planting. This is achieved by the removal of all the heavy fuels that are used for fueling the kettle for the distilling process, as well as firewood for the community. The pitting and planting operations create seasonal employment and allows Delft Forestry to capitalise on the growing season to replant all the temporarily unplanted areas as quickly as possible, so the growth season is maximised and the seedlings are well established to handle the Piet Retief winters. Having the essential oil certified as organic the use of pesticides is kept to a minimum thus resulting in manual hoeing and slashing to control the weeds in the compartments. Areas with heavy fuel loads are disked before winter ensuring air flow through the compartment and assisting with fire protection. Coppice compartments that are replanted are de-stumped to remove the stumps thereby assisting with access for disking and fire suppression. Essential-oils plant Kettle fuel Combination of fire and weed management by means of disking
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