Only one earth
On World Environment Day 2022, the UN is highlighting the need to reset the balance with nature and calling for collective action to address aspects of the triple planetary emergency: climate change, biodiversity and nature loss, pollution and waste. Because we have #OnlyOneEarth.
Since 2015, we have been proud to work in partnership with World Land Trust to offset our carbon emissions, and our global operations have been certified through the World Land Trust (WLT) Carbon Balanced Programme.
In 2020, we expanded our partnership with World Land Trust, launching our 'Plant a Tree' initiative to reduce our environmental impact even further.
Read more below to discover how committing to these essential reforestation projects is helping to secure our planet for generations to come.
Plant a Tree programme
In 2020, the Group announced a new initiative, expanding its partnership with World Land Trust by pledging to plant one tree for each permanent candidate placement made across our Robert Walters and Walters People businesses, as well as one tree for every employee in our Resource Solutions business. Between 2020 and 2021, the initiative saw more than 25,000 trees (25,708) planted to restore forest habitat in Borneo, Brazil, Kenya and India.
Malaysian Borneo
The rainforests of Malaysian Borneo are some of the oldest in the world and have long been home to myriad species, including 10 species of primate, the Bornean Pygmy Elephant, and more than 600 species of birds, as well as a wealth of endemic species.
However, decades of relentless logging coupled with a booming palm oil industry and forest fires has put pressure on these rare, threatened and endemic species. Over 80% of natural forest has been lost, displacing wildlife populations and disrupting wildlife movements, including elephant migration routes. Further forest degradation is now a major threat to the long-term survival of wildlife populations.
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Providing safe passage to a more secure future
Through the Plant a Tree programme, we've helped World Land Trust to reconnect crucial habitat for the Critically Endangered Bornean Orang-utan along the Kinabatangan river, and to extend and protect a crucial wildlife corridor for species such as the Proboscis Monkey and Pygmy Elephant.
Supporting the Plant a Tree project in Borneo is helping WLT and its partners to offer permanent employment to a team of local women, who are in charge of planting, maintaining and monitoring seedlings of native tree species as well as education and paid internship opportunities to raise awareness of the importance of natural habitat conservation and equipping local women with crucial reforestation methods.
Atlantic Forest, Brazil
Brazil's Atlantic Forest is one of the most biodiverse regions on earth, with 20,000 species of plants, nearly 500 species of amphibian, over 260 types of mammals, and close to 1,000 species of birds. But, the Atlantic Forest is also one of the most threatened forest regions in the world - today's forest cover is approximately 7% of the original forest.
In addition to putting pressure on the wildlife, forest clearance has also led to erosion and soil run off which has impacted the water quality in local settlements.
Easing the pressure on vital ecosystems
The Group's partnership with World Land Trust has helped to restore habitat and ease the immense pressure on the incredible Brazilian wildlife of the region. The initiative has extended protected vital habitat for the Critically Endangered Southern Wooley Spider monkey which has a global population of less than 1,500 individuals.
Further, the programme supports World Land Trust partner REGUA’s work with local communities, providing employment, education for local schools, and expansion of the REGUA reserve, a water catchment area which provides fresh drinking water to local communities.
Carbon Balanced Programme
The Group’s operations have been offset through the World Land Trust’s Carbon Balanced programme since 2015, which means we invest in carbon offset schemes equivalent to our emissions as assessed by WLT carbon specialists.
World Land Trust has used the funds contributed by the Group to protect and restore threatened forest in Vietnam, preventing CO2 emissions and enhancing the carbon they store.
Khe Nuoc Trong, Vietnam
The Group contributes to WLT's Carbon Balanced project at Khe Nuoc Trong in Vietnam, one of the best remaining examples of Annamite Lowland Forest in the world.
The project aims to protect biodiversity by reducing illegal wildlife hunting and allowing natural regeneration of degraded areas within the Khe Nuoc Trong forest, now established as a nationally recognised protected area.
Rainforest restoration
By supporting this Carbon Balanced project and World Land Trust's work to restore and protect the tropical forest habitat, the Group are helping to safeguard more than 40 globally threatened, rare and critically endangered species, including the Sunda Pangolin and Large-Antlered Muntjac, and the vulnerable Red-shanked Douc.
This project is also benefitting local communities by helping the area’s farmers form sustainable forestry cooperatives and by providing opportunities for smallholders to sustainably manage small, pre-existing plantation plots, allowing a local economy to thrive without costing the forest.
