Throughout the week we've been discussing, celebrating, and taking action in honor of tomorrow's very important day for our planet – Earth Day!
This year's Earth Day theme "Trees for the Earth" brings awareness to the crucial contribution trees make to our planet and personal well-being. For example, they reduce and absorb CO2 emissions helping mitigate the risk of climate change, they purify our air absorbing odors, gases and even filtering out particulates in their leaves and bark, they provide food, energy and incometo communities supporting their social and economic stability[1].…
….and as most of us can agree, who doesn't love perching under a shady tree for a picnic, reading a book, or just relaxing?
In short, trees are one of mother earth's greatest assets and we need them to survive.
Preserving Forests through Climate-Friendly Coffee Farming
Mexico is one of 12 “mega-biodiverse” countries that together are home to nearly 70% of our planet's biodiversity. While the country has made notable climate commitments and commendable progress in recent years, it is still one of the world’s top emitters of CO2, with deforestation and forest degradation as primary contributing factors.
At Symantec, we are proud to support the Rainforest Alliance “CO2 coffee” project, which is working with 400 coffee farmers and local partners in Oaxaca, Mexico to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in coffee landscapes, enhance carbon storage, and promote a model that improves economic stability in one of Mexico's poorest regions.
With Symantec’s philanthropic support the Rainforest Alliance is working with coffee-producing communities to reforest degraded landscapes, reintroducing native tree species and establishing a balanced percentage of production area devoted to shade-grown coffee. This will help farmers transition away from the clearing of forestland and intensive use of agrochemicals.
{Click here to see the Rainforest Alliance Oaxaca CO2 Coffee Project in Action}
The CO2 Coffee Project is unique and cutting-edge as it is the first coffee agroforestry project in Mexico to be validated by the Verified Carbon Standard, and one of the first in the world linked to Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) standards. The VCS requirements ensure that the initiative is a highly traceable and accountable reforestation effort, and will enable the communities to generate additional income through carbon credits in the longer term. Additionally, training and technical assistance delivered to coffee farmers is helping to improve the environmental, social and economic impacts of coffee production and increasing farmers' resiliency to the threats and realities of climate change.
Last year, the program saw great success and we look forward to continuing the progress in 2016. In 2015 the project team:
- Planted more than 25,000 trees in the coastal communities of Nuevo San Juan Lachao, Santa Rosa de Lima, Santa Lucía Teotepec and Soledad Piedra Larga
- Supported ongoing training and technical assistance to more than 400 farmers through the UNECAFE coffee cooperative
- Helped build the capacity of UNECAFE and local partners to manage the initiative well into the future
At Symantec we have set our own target to minimize the GHG impacts of our business, but we also look to organizations like the Rainforest Alliance who can help us make an impact outside our walls. On Earth Day we thank the Rainforest Alliance and our other environmental partners for their dedication to a model of environmental sustainability that gives back to our planet and our people.
Questions regarding Symantec’s environmental impact? Visit our website or contact Environmental_Responsibility@Symantec.com to learn more.