Unilever staff pitch in again and experience St Lucia

Unilever staff volunteers again helped out by planting indigenous trees and establishing a vegetable garden at Entabeni Senior Primary School near Esikhawini Township, Empangeni. The eleven strong Unilever team joined hands with conservation NGO the Wildlands Conservation Trust that runs the Indigenous trees for Life programme in needy communities across KwaZulu Natal and in Gauteng. Through a longstanding relationship, Wildlands and Unilever staff have been holding volunteer weekends in the St Lucia area for over ten years.  Conservation efforts to save Lake St Lucia brought the two organisations together in the late 1990s.

The Living Lakes network was established in 1998 to protect lakes around the world which play an important role in water supply and maintain important ecosystems, and Lake St Lucia is a founding member lake. Unilever became a funding supporter and Living Lakes volunteers from Unilever began supplying skills and time to help save Lake St Lucia. By giving their time and being involved with the community around St Lucia, Unilever staff give back but are also exposed to the beauty of St Lucia and experience nature and the value of the biodiversity that the environment offers.

The volunteer weekend held in February 2010 was not all work. The Unilever team stayed at the community tourism project the Veyane Cultural Village and experienced Zulu culture, dancing and food. They also went on a boat ride at Isimangaliso Estuary. “I had an amazing experience of living in a Zulu hut, and had lots of fun at meal times and when we travelled around. I experienced a South Africa that was new to me and one I will remember for a long time to come,” said Kalaivani Naicker.

Siphiwe Ndimande said of the weekend: “I was certainly inspired by seeing the smile that we put on those peoples’ faces and listening to all the challenges they come across on a daily basis and it made me realise how much I should be grateful for.”
Nokuthula Zungu is a Unilever staff member that experienced the weekend away: “I was definitely fulfilled when we were a catalyst in helping the primary school make a vegetable garden and plant trees. Not only did this act re-emphasize the importance of subsistence farming, it also helped the community and the pupils understand how a simple act of planting a few trees can have a huge impact on the environment.  I also got to learn a lot about planting from the Wildlands team.”

…ends/

Photo: Nokuthula Zungu from Unilever and Dumile Tshingana from the Wildlands Conservation Trust at work establishing a vegetable garden for the Entabeni Senior Primary School near Esikhawini Township, Empangeni

Parlotones to help raise funds for Indigenous Trees for Life

Live Earth, organizer of The Dow Live Earth Run for Water, and Wildlands Conservation Trust, Cape Town race director, today announced that The Parlotones, highest grossing rock band in South Africa, will perform live at the event taking place at the Speir Wine Estate in Cape Town on April 18, 2010. The largest worldwide water initiative on record to help combat the global water crisis, The Dow Live Earth Run for Water is a series of 6km run/walks (the average distance many women and children walk every day to get water), culminating with a water education village and live musical performance, taking place in 80 cities across 40 countries around the world, to raise awareness and funds that will help solve the global water crisis.

“We are thrilled to be performing at the Dow Live Earth Run for Water in Cape Town and to lend our support to helping solve the global water crisis,” said Khan Morbee lead vocalist for The Parlotones. “As alumni of the Live Earth concerts in 2007, we are proud to be partnered again in another global event aimed at identifying solutions for critical environmental issues.”

The live performance at The Spier Wine Estate is restricted to registered run/walk participants. In addition to the live performance, the band is committed to lending its name and support to generate awareness for the event locally in Cape Town, as well as the larger global intiative to help solve this critical issue.

“Live Earth is honoured to have The Parlotones as part of this global movement to help raise awareness for the global water crisis, said Kevin Wall, Founder of Live Earth. “As one of the biggest bands in South Africa with millions of fans across the country, they can make a significant impact in the hearts and minds of South Africans in encouraging them to participate in the run/walk and ultimately help solve the global water crisis.”

People in Cape Town can register for the Dow Live Earth Run for Water run/walk today via the Wildlands website on www.localhost/import-data-post/runforwater or via The Active Network at http://liveearth.org/capetown.  All participants will receive a free online ActiveTrainer plan to help them prepare for the event. Ten percent of all registration fees go directly to Wildlands Conservation Trust, a non profit organization working to conserve South Africa’s biodiversity.

“We’re so excited to be part of this event” said Heidi Mocke, Events Manager for the Wildlands Conservation Trust. “Wildlands have been running sports events for many years now to raise funds for our projects, but to be part of a global initiative of this scale, for such a vital cause, is really special. Spier is a stunning venue and walkers and runners will be able to get their hearts pumping in one of the most beautiful parts of the South Africa.”

The funds raised from the event will go towards Wildlands’ Indigenous Trees for Life project. The project teaches poor and vulnerable community members (children, youth and adults) to grow indigenous trees to sustain their livelihoods. Once they reach a certain height, the trees grown by the ‘tree-preneurs’ are traded back to Wildlands at ‘tree stores’ for goods such as food, clothes, school fees, and anything else the tree-preneurs might need. The funds raised from this event will be used to purchase rainwater tanks and wheelbarrows for the tree stores for community members who have to walk far to fetch water.

“Some of our tree-preneurs need to walk kilometres back and forth to fetch water for their trees and the rainwater tanks and wheelbarrows will have a huge impact on their lives”, said Wildlands Communications Manager, Simone Dale. “We have over 3500 tree-preneurs growing trees for us all around KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and Mpumalanga and we’re starting projects in the Eerste Rivier, Stellenbosch and Lynedock communities in the Western Cape in October this year.” The trees grown by the tree-preneurs are planted out in reforestation projects.

The Dow Live Earth Run for Water is a global movement focused on the actions individuals can take to effectively address the issue. People are encouraged to START solving the problem today, RUN in a Dow Live Earth Run for Water run/walk in their community or organize their own run/walk through the Friends of Live Earth program, SAVE water in their home and local community through conservation efforts, GIVE money to support clean, safe water projects and SPEAK UP by signing the Live Earth petition to add water as a basic human right to the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights.

“As the title sponsor for the Dow Live Earth Run for Water, Dow is committed to bringing the science, technology and “human element” it will take to help solve one of the world’s greatest challenges – the global water crisis,” said  Ian Barbour, general manager at Dow Water & Process Solutions, a business unit of Dow. “On April 18, 2010, Dow’s 46,000 employees will join people from around the world to help millions of people around the world gain access to safe, clean drinking water.”

For more information about the Dow Live Earth Run for Water visit www.liveearth.organd to participate in the Cape Town event visit or www.localhost/import-data-post/runforwater.

About Wildlands Conservation Trust
The Wildlands Conservation Trust is a non-profit organisation working to conserve South Africa’s biodiversity. Wildlands aims to restore and conserve South Africa’s natural ecosystems, through the development of innovative socio-economic partnerships. This is based on the premise that healthy natural ecosystems are the platforms on which human wellbeing and the sustainable development of the planet are possible. Wildlands’ work is focused around four core programmes: Conservation SPACE, Indigenous Trees for Life, Biodiversity Management Support and Green Leaders, which contribute significantly to the growth of the regional biodiversity conservation footprint. More information about the Wildlands Conservation Trust can be found at http://www.localhost/import-data-post

About Live Earth
Founded by Emmy-winning producer Kevin Wall, in partnership with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, Live Earth was built upon the belief that entertainment has the power to transcend social and cultural barriers to move the world community to action. A for-profit company, Live Earth seeks to leverage the power of entertainment through integrated events, media and the live experience to ignite a global movement aimed at solving the most critical environmental issues of our time. More information about Live Earth can be found at http://liveearth.org.

About Dow
Dow combines the power of science and technology with the “Human Element” to passionately innovate what is essential to human progress. The Company connects chemistry and innovation with the principles of sustainability to help address many of the world’s most challenging problems such as the need for clean water, renewable energy generation and conservation, and increasing agricultural productivity. Dow’s diversified industry-leading portfolio of specialty chemical, advanced materials, agrosciences and plastics businesses delivers a broad range of technology-based products and solutions to customers in approximately 160 countries and in high growth sectors such as electronics, water, energy, coatings and agriculture. In 2009, Dow had annual sales of $45 billion and employed approximately 52,000 people worldwide. The Company’s more than 5,000 products are manufactured at 214 sites in 37 countries across the globe. References to “Dow” or the “Company” mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted. More information about Dow can be found at www.dow.com.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Simone Dale
Wildlands Conservation Trust
082 421 4418
simoned@localhost/import-data-post

Katlego Modipane
GGi Communications
011 728 1363
katlego@ggisa.com

Ehrin Cummings
Live Earth
(310) 550-3883
ecummings@controlroom.com

SA Sugar Association sweetens the “tree-preneur” experience

The Sugar Association of South Africa has partnered with the Wildlands Conservation Trust by donating R 24 000 worth of sugar for the conservation NGO’s Indigenous Trees for Life “tree stores” in the Durban area. Indigenous Trees for Life is a livelihoods programme for individuals from vulnerable households who are shown how to nurture indigenous trees from seed until they reach a certain height. These individuals are known as tree-preneurs. The trees are then traded at tree stores set up by Wildlands in exchange for food, clothes, bicycles, agricultural goods and even school and university fees. Trees are then planted back into the communities or into Wildlands’ forest restoration projects.

Debbie Farley, Procurement Manager for Wildlands Conservation Trust said “At the tree stores the sugar is by far the most popular product followed by rice and cooking oil. By December 2009 all the sugar we received through the Sugar Association last year had been purchased by the tree-preneurs with their credit notes.”

“The value of these donations to us as an organisation is enormous. Where we are able to supply the tree stores with donated goods, it allows us to supply a range of products for the communities to buy with their tree growing income.”

Dudu Tholakele Mbuyazi is a tree-preneur from Kwambonambi near Richards Bay, and she purchased ten kilograms of sugar at a tree store which she uses it in tea, for making juice and for baking.

Nkonzo Mhlongo from the Sugar Association of South Africa said: “The sugar donated to Wildlands helps the South African Sugar Association meet its objective of improving the well-being of the poorest of the poor within the sugar growing communities, with a project that gives people the opportunity to help themselves, while greening the planet at the same time.”
/ends

Photo: Tree-preneur Dudu Tholakele Mbuyazi with her purchases from a tree store held at Kwambonambi, including ten kgs of sugar that formed part of a donation from the South African Sugar Association. With her is Wildlands Conservation Trust facilitator Nokuthula Mdletshe.