International non-profit organisation WeForest, dedicated to bio-diverse tree planting, together with Brabantia, has planted its 10 millionth tree in Ethiopia.
This is a huge milestone for WeForest and head sponsor Brabantia. Katrien Delaet, WeForest COO, and Neguest Mekonnen, Director of the Hunger Project Ethiopia, planted the 10 millionth tree in Machakel, a small town in Ethiopia.
Marie-Noelle Keijzer, CEO of WeForest, said: “”WeForest is delighted to award Brabantia with its 10 millionth tree as a recognition for an inspiring campaign around a good product for our planet. We chose to plant it in the north of Ethiopia where together we are starting a new tree planting project.”
Brabantia started the collaboration with WeForest in 2015 as part of its Love Nature Campaign. For every Rotary Dryer sold across the globe, Brabantia donates one tree. Since the start of the campaign, WeForest has planted more than 500,000 Brabantia trees.
Tijn van Elderen, CEO of Brabantia, said: “We are delighted to be responsible for planting the 10 millionth tree in Ethiopia. To celebrate and remember this milestone we have planted a special tree at our head office in Valkenswaard. In 2016, Brabantia will continue with our Love Nature campaign. Working with consumers and WeForest to protect and restore the world’s environment, we’ve set a goal to plant more than one million trees.
“Here, we will fund the first phase of this new planting project from WeForest which will produce its first trees towards the end of 2016, contributing to a cool, biodiverse and reforested earth for everyone.”
Local communities are engaged in collecting seeds and caring for the trees, transforming the bare land into fertile, biologically diverse and productive forests. Improved grazing areas for cattle, thanks to the fertile and increased grass production, creates an important food source for cattle and also a product that the women of the region use in traditional craft making, creating mats and baskets to sell at the local markets.
Africa’s Great Green Wall is an African-wide project aimed at planting a continuous ‘wall of trees’ stretching 4,300 miles long and nine miles wide, across the entire width of the African continent, involving nine African nations.
For more information www.brabantia.com/love-nature.
