SPAR Zimbabwe, My Trees Trust, SPAR supplier partners, Royden Secondary School, Forestry Commission and members of the surrounding community came together on Wednesday 24 January at Royden Secondary School, Nyabira to plant 13 000 assorted indigenous trees as part of their reforestation exercise.
This follows on from the 2022 One Tree Planted campaign where SPAR, My Trees and its supplier partners planted 10 000 trees at Royden Primary School in an effort to contribute towards global reforestation, restoring lost forests, repairing damaged ecosystems and mitigating climate change, while working towards the President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Vision 2030 and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Speaking on behalf of SPAR Zimbabwe, general manager Cypren Borerwe said: “We have built good relations with both Royden Primary and Secondary schools, and it is such a great honour to be back again in 2024 to plant 13 000 trees.”
“Having planted 10,000 trees in 2022 I am glad to say that we now have a total of 23,000 trees planted between the Primary and Secondary School.
“We continue to encourage all students to champion the idea of planting more trees as well as looking after the trees that we will be planting today as they are vital to our survival.”
My Trees has been nursing the trees from early 2023 and has continued to make significant inroads into restoring and protecting indigenous woodland habitats across Zimbabwe.
Gidrich Mupanhwa, representing the deputy general of Forestry Commission Joyce Gumbe, applauded SPAR for their consistency and dedication to environmental initiatives.
“Forestry Commission has been working with SPAR Zimbabwe for a couple of years and we have witnessed SPAR`s commitment to ensuring that they continue to fulfill their tree planting mandate,” Mupanhwa said.
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“My Trees has been around for a few years now but the strides that they continue to take have been quite phenomenal and admirable in areas like Mashonaland West, Mashonaland Central.
“Their drive to plant as many Indigenous trees is good as we all know that Indigenous trees survive better in their environment and can withstand and change in weather patterns.
“As Forestry Commission, we continue to be aligned with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG15) by protecting, restoring and promoting sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.”
Rory Pilosoff, the general manager for My Trees said: “My Trees will continue to grow their nurseries across the country in order to assist other Organisations that would like to partner with us in our reforestation exercise.”
SPAR Zimbabwe were awarded an Environmental Champion of the Year Award by ESG Network Zimbabwe, in recognition of their tireless environmental and clean-up campaigns at SPAR stores all over the country.
Other supply partners who took part in the tree planting exercise included CABS, Crystal Candy, National Foods, Dayforce, Nelspot, Kefalos, Childline Zimbabwe.
Local musician Victor Kunonga and representatives of the local drama series, Kuchina the New Genesis, were also present on the day, much to the delight of the school children and local residents.
SPAR Zimbabwe is part of a wider global SPAR family, with 13 900 SPAR stores in over 48 countries on four continents, employing tens of thousands of people and serving over 14,7 million consumers every day.
