Planting trees, helping communities, cultivating knowledge

12 January 2024 News

In 2022, we embarked on a mission to understand your perspectives on sustainability and certification through a market survey, with the promise to plant one tree for each completed questionnaire. In partnership with French communities and primary schools, we turned your answers into seeds for forest revival, and the education of future sustainability ambassadors.

Together with the French Office National des Forêts (ONF), we identified Saxel and Burdignin, two villages in Haute Savoie, France, with a strong desire but limited budget to restore their forests.

Through your contributions and with the help of local children, we were able to give the forests new life by planting over 500 trees.

“Forests are crucial for maintaining soils and as part of adaptation to global warming, and represent an important part of the municipal budget. PEFC certification allows for quality operations and sustainable management,” said Frédéric Guiberti, mayor of Saxel.

Thanks to the collaboration with primary schools, the impact did not stop at regrowth, but extended to education.

Integrated into the French school curriculum, 50 enthusiastic school children, aged 10, were at the forefront of the planting.

Besides learning about natural science, they witnessed sustainable development firsthand, and refined their vocabulary in the field of forestry.

“I loved planting trees and putting the protection against the deer. I learnt that trees in my region take 120 years to grow,” said 10-year-old Ilona.

“Reforestation is important for maintaining landscapes and natural spaces, and for limiting erosion, while PEFC certification makes it possible to sell the wood at a higher price. We are proud to have sustainably managed forests,” said Pierre Chautemps, mayor of Burdignin.

Starting as answers in a survey, your involvement became the foundation for a greener future in these communities, and helped enlighten young minds.