Coronation Fund Managers and Food & Trees for Africa (FTFA) are celebrating Earth Day by planting 1 500 trees nationwide. Coronation has noticed that presentation print-outs and flyers are often discarded by delegates at its regular conferences. This year, Coronation is donating the money that would have been spent on conference packs to low-income communities which have applied for trees. This intervention will create temporary employment, green the environment, and reduce its environmental impact. The trees will sequester 553.3 tonnes of carbon dioxide.
The trees are being planted to celebrate Earth Day (April 22nd). Some 750 trees will be planted in Mahube Valley, Mamelodi. This programme will see the training and temporary employment of 15 community educators in Mamelodi. A further 750 trees will be planted in Motherwell, Port Elizabeth and Mfuleni, Cape Town.
Says Emily Jones, FTFA’s Trees and Carbon Manager,
“It’s important that companies become mindful of the environmental impact of their activities. It’s great to see Coronation’s efforts toward positive activities such as tree planting, These trees will provide fruit and shade, as well as temporary employment and skills development in Mamelodi.”
Pieter Koekemoer, head of personal investments at Coronation.
“As a long-term investor, our focus is on the future. We are committed to protecting the environment for generations to come and we believe planting trees – instead of printing handouts – will make a real difference. Among a number of other internal programmes, we have expanded recycling and electronic reporting (which has significantly reduced paper usage) in recent years.”
