Our story
A journey of restoration and hope.
The Ecolution Project
See it in motion
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Why we exist
Who We Are
The Ecolution Project is a programme of the Seven Generations Initiative, a registered Non-Profit Company and Public Benefit Organisation (see our Governance section for more details). Based at Well-Being Sanctuary near Sedgefield on the Garden Route, we run three interconnected programmes — ecological restoration, wildlife corridors and regenerative living — restoring the Ruigtevlei wildlife corridor and building a community of active stewards of the land.
How it began
A Journey of Restoration and Hope
It all began as a dream – just the two of us, Mariette and Vincent, imagining a piece of land in South Africa where we could live in deep connection with nature. We didn’t know how, but we knew why: to give something back to the earth, to wildlife, and to future generations. We wanted to restore what had been damaged and create a place where both people and nature could flourish.
The land we found was once a cattle ranch, stripped of its indigenous vegetation and overrun by invasive alien species. For the past ten years, we’ve worked to bring it back to life — gradually removing what doesn’t belong, planting what does, and witnessing the return of birds, wild bees, Cape honeybees and indigenous plants. It hasn’t always been easy, but it has been deeply meaningful.
Today, the Well-Being Sanctuary lies at the heart of an emerging wildlife corridor and a future conservation servitude. We’ve protected more than 2 km of lakefront where wild creatures now roam freely, created a haven for wild bees and Cape honeybees, begun restoring indigenous forest, and launched projects that work in harmony with the land.
We also host retreats and festivals with a light and intentional human footprint. These gatherings build community, celebrate the natural world, and inspire deeper connection and more conscious ways of living. They are an invitation to come home – not only to nature, but also to ourselves.
Now we’re inviting others to walk this path with us – to protect, restore and dream even bigger. Because this land is more than a sanctuary for wildlife. It is a sanctuary for hope.
From ceremony to project
Be The Change You Want To See In The World
This phrase is often attributed to Gandhi, and it beautifully captures the spirit that has shaped our journey. Ever since we hosted our first Summer Solstice gathering in 2016, people from all walks of life have rolled up their sleeves and helped us plant indigenous trees, turning good intentions into meaningful action.
Our ceremonial tree planting on the Summer Solstice (21 December) gave birth to a large circular ‘stepping stone’ of indigenous forest for aerial wildlife. It also sparked a vision to restore much larger areas of land where invasive alien vegetation, particularly black wattle, had taken hold. Today, nearly 10 years later, people pitch their tents beneath the shade of those same thriving indigenous trees.
Although it would take several more years to formalise, this was the true beginning of the Ecolution Project. Throughout that journey, Ray Nolan of Precious Tree Project has been a steadfast friend, mentor and inspiration – always generous with his knowledge and among the first to roll up his sleeves and get his hands into the soil.
Today, the Ecolution Project supports at least eight satellite mini-nurseries, including Sizamile Nursery in Smutsville, Sedgefield. That network continues to grow, along with our vision to restore neighbouring farmland, educate young people, and inspire a new generation of land custodians. We also strive to create meaningful employment and, where funding allows, deliver skills-transfer programmes for disadvantaged children in partnership with the Rondevlei Learning Centre and the Kula Malaika Foundation.
By planting indigenous trees and weaving stronger communities, we are making a tangible contribution to restoring nature, strengthening resilience in the face of climate change, and leaving a living legacy for generations to come. In doing so, we hope to embody the timeless wisdom behind Gandhi’s words: Be the change you wish to see in the world.
Ten years of planting, one hillside at a time.
Corridor map
Explore what we're restoring, layer by layer
Every planting weekend rebuilds the wildlife corridor from the ground up — literally. Tap a layer to see what's growing there.
Canopy
The tallest indigenous trees, closing the corridor overhead.
The canopy is the corridor's roof. Outeniqua and Real Yellowwood, Black Ironwood, Stinkwood, Cape Holly, White Pear and the Assegai are all growing up into it — the same Southern Afrotemperate forest that survives in the old Knysna and Tsitsikamma patches down the coast.
These trees don't grow alone in the wild, and they weren't planted alone here. Yellowwood, ironwood and assegai are natural companions, set together on the Summer Solstice planting circle so the crowns would knit into one continuous surface. Closed like that, the canopy becomes an aerial stepping-stone: Knysna turacos, canopy birds and insects can move along the Ruigtevlei lakefront without ever coming down to open ground.
Outeniqua Yellowwood Podocarpus falcatus
Iconic Garden Route canopy trees, some of the confirmed indigenous species planted through Ecolution Project's restoration work.
Black Ironwood Olea capensis subsp. macrocarpa
The Garden Route is home to two primary indigenous ironwoods — Black Ironwood (this species) and White Ironwood (Vepris lanceolata, understory). Locally called ysterhout, these resilient evergreen trees form a core structural component of the region's temperate indigenous forests and coastal dune thickets.
Assegai Curtisia dentata
Client-confirmed on site. An indigenous Afromontane canopy tree of the Garden Route forests, growing naturally alongside yellowwood and black ironwood — coarsely toothed, glossy dark-green leaves flushed bronze at the tips, and small red-to-purple fruit taken by forest birds. Its hard, straight wood was traditionally used for spear shafts, which is where the name comes from.
Ten years on, this is what the canopy looks like from its own level — one green surface running the Ruigtevlei shoreline.
Find the corridor
Where you'll find us
Well-Being Sanctuary, Hoogekraal Farm, Sedgefield, Garden Route.