Total Uganda, Stanbic Bank and Roofings bosses shortly after signing the partnership
Stanbic Bank, Total Uganda and Roofings have today announced a tripartite partnership to support over 250 secondary schools to plant at least 150, 000 fruit trees in a bid to redevelop Uganda’s receding forest cover.
Under the tripartite, at least 250 secondary schools will collectively plant 110, 000 fruit trees in their respective school spaces which will ultimately support the children’s nutrition needs while conserving the environment.
Employees of Stanbic Bank Uganda and Total Uganda will also collectively plant 40, 000 fruit trees making a total of 150,000 before the end of the 2021.
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.
Since 2020, Stanbic Bank has supported communities to plant over 25000 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.”
Speaking shortly before signing the tripartite, 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.”
Ms. Juuko added that the campaign also aims at contributing towards realizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 13 and 15, 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,” she added.
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.
“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 limited 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,” Mayieka said.
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.
Nashila Lalani, also added that this 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”, Nashila added.
Why schools
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.
“This 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; the collective impact of these schools will be notable across the country,” said Juuko.
Majority of the participating schools have ample land where they will plant the allocated fruit trees while using the student population to take care of their growth journey into mature forests.
