​National Arbour Week is a time when staff and students on the Tygerberg Campus reflect on the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS) green legacy, as well as the legacy of colleagues and students who passed away during the previous 12 months.

One of the FMHS strategic goals is to promote environmental sustainability, and this includes taking steps to lower carbon emissions.  The faculty's Green Committee initiated the "Trees for green travellers" project in 2008, encouraging staff to make a contribution towards buying trees. These trees are planted on campus in order to offset the effect carbon emissions have on climate change.

Prof Bob Mash, the Chair of the Green Committee, explained that more than 200 trees have already been planted on the Tygerberg and Worcester Campuses with this project. "This has increased biodiversity on both terrains," he said.

This year, a total of 60 trees will be planted on the campus in celebration of the FMHS's 60^th anniversary. On Wednesday, 7 September 2016, eight coral trees were planted on the lawn opposite the Tygerberg Student Centre (TSC), of which four were in memory of staff and students.

Every year during spring season, these trees will, together with the memorial trees planted last year, form a beautiful lane of red flowers in front of the TSC.

Prof Nico Gey van Pittius, the Deputy Dean: Research, delivered a short eulogy for each of the following staff members and students.

Jack Petersen (passed away in September 2015)

Mr Jack Petersen worked at the FMHS from 01 April 1976. He rendered his services conscientiously as lab assistant, messenger and driver. In the latter years of his career he served as a driver for the Ukwanda Centre for Rural Health, where he will be remembered as a soft-spoken and kind man.

Myrna van Zyl (passed away in November 2015)

Ms Myrna van Zyl worked at the Centre for Health Profession Education (CHPE). Myrna was well loved by her colleagues and the students. Her door was always wide open to students and she walked the extra mile to assist them.

Harry Frauenstein (passed away in January 2016)

Harry Frauenstein, a final-year medical student, was well-liked on the Tygerberg Campus and known for his creativity and musical talent. He was the leader of the Hippokrates Residence Women's Serenade group who won the National Serenade Competition twice.

Annemarie Heymann (passed away in April 2016)

Dr Annemarie Heymann died tragically in a car accident. She was a postgraduate student in the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health and a registrar in the Department of Paediatrics in Worcester Hospital at the time of her passing. She will be remembered for the quiet and graceful manner in which she showed affection and love to her patients, friends, acquaintances, tutors and colleagues.