AHMEDABAD, SEPT 25
Logistics service provider Blue Dart Express, which is part of the Deutsche Post DHL Group (DPDHL), will plant 1,11,000 trees in collaboration with Grow-Trees in Kanha-Pench wildlife corridor of Madhya Pradesh.
Blue Dart will complete planting these trees in 2020 and these 1,11,000 trees are likely to offset 22,22,000 kg of carbon per year, on maturity, a company release said Friday.
The trees being planted include indigenous species like Tamarind, Shisham (North Indian Rosewood), Siras (Frywood), Teak Wood, Karanj (Indian Beech), Custard Apple, Ber (Indian Plum), Kateswari (Red Silk Cotton), Kashid (Yellow Cassia), Wood Apple, Amla (Indian Gooseberry).
Preserving the ecosystem around this reserve, rebuilding wildlife habitats, and supporting tribal communities along with aiding in increasing the forest reserve in the country are some of the objectives behind these plantation drives, it said.
Earlier, Blue Dart planted 2,22,000 trees in the Kanha-Pench Corridor.
The unique project of planting trees on the Kanha-Pench Corridor has helped revive the biodiversity of the region, reducing man-animal conflict while providing direct employment to over 70 families every year creating around 5,600 workdays during pit digging and plantation activities alone.
Even during the tough times of the coronavirus pandemic, immense support was provided to the dwellers of the Karwahi and Dulara villages by the distribution of dry ration and generation of employment opportunities.
Since 2017, Blue Dart Express Ltd has planted a total of 4,52,000 trees in collaboration with Grow-Trees.com across the five Indian states of Odisha, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, and Sikkim which is expected to offset about 9 million kg of its carbon footprint.
These large-scale plantations have helped promote eco-tourism, increase green cover and support tribal-rural communities, especially women from the Gond tribes, it added.
Commenting on the initiative, Balfour Manuel, MD, Blue Dart Express Ltd said, “Sustainability has been an integral part of our parent company Deutsche Post DHL’s (DP DHL) strategy to emphasize its commitment to being responsible and working with communities across the globe. Our Group-wide environmental protection program GoGreen’s main objective is to reduce and/or avoid emissions of greenhouse gases and to protect and preserve our environment. Planting these 111,000 trees is another step in this direction and is our effort to make the logistics sector greener and more sustainable. We will continue to find ways to eradicate waste and retain more value in our products in 2020”.
Bikrant Tiwary, CEO, Grow-Trees.com says, “It is heartening to see Blue Dart Express Limited step forward and take responsibility for the environment, an aspect of our lives that we take for granted as a community. The rural communities highlight how deforestation has led the wildlife in Pench Tiger Reserve to enter villages, often leading to destruction and injuries in both animals and villagers. The region’s economy is majorly dependent on agricultural activities, which tend to get hampered by animal invasion. The trees planted in the region will provide the resources required to sustain the tiger population in the forests, while also benefitting the rural communities. We envision this collaboration to proving fruitful for the sustainable development of the nearing biodiversity.”
