Stanbic Bank in tripartite pact to replenish Uganda's tree cover

Stanbic Bank in tripartite pact to replenish Uganda’s tree cover

September 10, 2021 in Companies, Renewable by Editor

Juuko (centre) said the new campaign strictly focuses on helping schools to plant fruit trees which in future, will not only support the nutrition needs of students but also re-green the school environment.

Stanbic Bank, Total Uganda and Roofings Group have announced a tripartite partnership to support over 250 secondary schools to plant at least 150,000 fruit trees to help replenish Uganda’s receding forest cover.

Students will collectively plant 110,000 trees in their respective school spaces which will ultimately supplement the children’s nutrition needs while also conserving the environment. Employees of the three companies will also plant another 40,000 trees before the end of the 2021.

Speaking shortly penning the agreemnet, Anne Juuko, Stanbic Uganda Chief Executive Officer said, “We welcome this partnership with Total Uganda and Roofings, together, we shall more than triple our efforts in this long-term struggle to save our environment.”

She said the campaign also aims at contributing towards realizing points 13 and 15 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which respectively call for concerted efforts to mitigate climate change and sustainable life on land. “Strategic Partnerships, as per SDG 17, are vital if we are to realize all the goals before 2030 deadline. We hope that Stanbic’s partnership with Total Uganda and Roofings will inspire many more local corporate partnerships to support Uganda’s Goals’ Agenda,” Juuko said.

According to data from Uganda’s Environment Ministry and National Forestry Authority, the country loses on average, 122,000 ha/year of forest cover, annually. By choosing schools as touch points, the partners believe they will help influence the young generation to engage in activities that are geared towards conserving the environment.

Daniel Mayieka, the Managing Director of Total Uganda said, the partnership reinforces the Group’s new climate ambition aimed at getting a net-zero by 2050 together with society, a goal aligned with the organization’s purpose to provide energy that is more reliable, affordable, and clean to as many people as possible.

He said, “Total Uganda Foundation has made forest preservation and restoration a key focus of its work and is supporting projects to preserve and restore forests. We have therefore, decided to strategically partner with Stanbic Bank and Roofings for this cause and to improve the environment in communities and schools as we drive the tree planting culture in Uganda as well as becoming carbon neutral over time.”

Roofings Group Executive Director Nashila Lalani said the partnership helps reinforce the Group’s re-wilding and Ubuntu efforts that deeply embedded within its Corporate Social Investment programme implemented through the Forever Forestry Initiative. The partnership gives Roofings an opportunity to tap into the mindsets of the next generations in aligning the country towards sustainable co-existence with nature.

“We are therefore facilitating the Stanbic National Schools Championship program in regreening hundreds of schools which in turn provides environmental stability for the generations that will come after us,” Lalani said.

The majority of the participating schools have ample land together with the student population that will take care of the trees as they grow into mature forests. Since 2020, Stanbic Bank has supported communities to plant over 25,000 trees through its annual National Schools Championship (NSC) a programme implemented as part of the bank’s sustainability agenda. The bank is also part of another multi-partner media campaign dubbed ‘Taasa Obutonde‘.