The iSLP is established on the sandy and windswept Cape Flats, which accommodates most of Cape Town's population. The creation of parks, fields and gardens is difficult, and requires the creation of windbreaks, access to affordable water and consistently dedicated labour.

Schools in the iSLP are created without any attention to "greening" except the provision of flat terrain and fencing. This is a consequence both of budgetary constraints and of the fact that when the schools are being built there is not yet a committed body of people who could support and maintain gardens and fields. As a result the play area of schools in the iSLP is unattractive and of very little utility value.

In the iSLP Schools Greening programme the iSLP sponsors greening programmes conducted by a specialist NGO with teachers' committees. The outcome is a business plan for each school, which contains details of what the school would like to achieve, how much it will cost and what strategies will be employed to find the finance. As a next step the iSLP is willing to contribute US$2 000 as matching finance for a school's fundraising efforts.

Twelve schools have received the training, and to date six schools have implemented their greening projects.