Without trees, what have we got?
By Roger Sharp, Bupa Asia Pacific, Chief Sustainability & Corporate Affairs Officer.
I find when you’ve been through another busy week of work, with many meetings online, one of the most invigorating things you can do to recharge body and mind is to get out into nature.
It might be your own backyard, or further afield, but wherever you are, it’s likely trees are there. They could be in the background, or the stars of the show, but either way, as a planet, we’d be lost without them.
This National Tree Day, I’m getting my hands dirty and planting a little something in my backyard for the future.
It’s inspiring to see the conversation on sustainability and our environment shift as more businesses get involved to help rebuild our forests. For us at Bupa though, it’s personal. We know we need to invest in a healthier planet if we are to have healthier people. The link is simple but vital.
It’s ambitious, but we’re working hard and taking bold steps to help transform our company and the wider healthcare sector. We’re partnering with community and environmental organisations across Asia Pacific to protect and restore crucial natural ecosystems.
By working with local partners, it means a more tailored approach for each ecosystem that ultimately results in a bigger impact.
While days like National Tree Day are a great excuse to get out and get planting, at Bupa we are proudly supporting reforestation and biodiversity initiatives throughout the year.
Australian planting days
Bupa team members proudly took part in a recent event in Sydney with Conservations Volunteers Australia, that saw more than six thousand trees planted. The saplings are helping restore the area and support native wildlife.
In New Zealand, we’ve taken part in planting days in Hamilton and Napier, in partnership with Trees That Count and we’re on track to plant 15,000 this year.
When you think about trees and a healthy environment, you might think that technology and innovation have more to do with ecosystem destruction rather than rehabilitation.
We prefer to find ways to have one benefit the other and are now in our second year of our eco-Disruptive program where Bupa team members work with innovative eco start-ups to solve environmental problems through the power of technology and innovation.
Last year’s Asia Pacific winner and global finalist was AirSeed, which delivers seed pods by drone. It’s that technology and innovation that allows Air Seed to plant 40 thousand pods in a day, compared with 800 seedlings planted by hand. That’s 25 times faster and frankly, pretty inspirational.
For you reading this, you might be a grass roots planter, or have high ambitions for the environment individually or through your workplace, but either way if everyone did their bit, we’d all benefit.
