Alina Oprea • 11 April, 2023 at 12:04 PM
Kaufland Romania is planting a new forest, equal to the number of employees, in Scorteni (Prahova County). The “Kaufland forest”, planted by the company's employees, is the largest internal volunteering project, developed by Kaufland and the Act for Tomorrow Association, being also a strategic sustainability and social involvement project. The K-shaped planted forest, inspired by the company's logo, comprises 16,000 saplings of 6 different tree species and covers an area of 4 hectares. 610 employees participated as volunteers in the 9 planting events organized between March 2021 and April 2023, contributing to the birth of a new forest in Scorteni.
The project, developed with the support of Scorteni City Hall, started from the need to increase the forested areas in Romania, which is below the European Union average of 38 percent and below the Natura 2000 Program objective of 40 percent according to data from the National Institute of Statistics. Prahova County registers a forested area of only 30.5 percent, being below the European average.
In parallel, the internal objective of the initiative was to promote the culture of volunteering and encourage the participation of employees in social, civic, and environmental actions carried out by Kaufland. The campaign had as its central element the concept of "Ambassadors of the Forest" and aimed at the involvement of Kaufland employees throughout the country, from stores, warehouses, and from departments such as procurement, IT, human resources, communication, and others. Thus, each employee engaged in the campaign was a vector of mobilization and a model of civic involvement, ready to inspire and pass on the message of involvement to colleagues from other departments, to urge them to participate in the afforestation actions at Scorțeni.
“The Kaufland forest is the continuation of our commitment to the environment and the local community. It is our gift to future generations who deserve to inherit a greener and cleaner world. I thank the colleagues who actively participated in the planting activities and who demonstrated, once again, that involvement makes a difference”, said Marco Hößl, CEO of Kaufland Romania and Moldova.
“Without a doubt, planting a tree for each employee is one of the most beautiful environmental and volunteering actions that a company can do. We are glad that our association contributed to the development and organization of this unique internal volunteering and social responsibility project, which was joined by 610 Kaufland employees. If every company followed Kaufland's example and planted a tree for every employee, we could build a greener and cleaner world. It would mean a real commitment in the fight against climate change,” said Andrei Coșuleanu, President of the Act for Tomorrow Association.
The next steps of the program will consist of the completion, maintenance, monitoring, and care of the saplings until maturity so that the young forest from Scorțeni becomes a real source of oxygen and a shelter of biodiversity. At the same time, once mature, the Kaufland Forest will also be a recreational forest, where the company and its partners will carry out cultural, social, and environmental activities, thus becoming a space open to the community.