AGS Movers Madagascar Manager, Fabris Grujic had the pleasure to meet representatives of Planète Urgence and witness some of the positive changes the NGO programme is making in the country.
Planète Urgence visited Madagascar in June this year and Fabris, together with the organisation’s ambassadors – Partnerships and Development Director, Muriel Roy and Executive Director, Thomas Boisserie – visited one of the reforestation projects created in Madagascar, before engaging with local business leaders about the project.
MOBILITAS, Planete Urgence partner since 2009
The MOBILITAS Group is always looking into ways to reduce our carbon footprint and has joined forces with Planète Urgence in 2009 by participating in a tree planting project as trees are particularly vulnerable to climate change. Through its branches, the group has committed to planting a tree for each international move completed, and for every 15 boxes of archives stored in our warehouses.
Reforestation and community development
The “Environment and Development” programme supported by Planète Urgence in Madagascar is used to reforest degraded forests from slash and burn agriculture, illegal logging and the production of fuel for domestic use. In line with reforestation activities, the programme also makes it possible to set up developmental projects for the island’s rural communities (poultry farming, beekeeping and breeding of wild silkworms).
Visit to a nursery in the Itasy region
During their visit to the Itasy region, about two and a half hours’ drive from Antananarivo, Fabris visited a nursery and met with local representatives of the association. The Itasy region is one of the regions where the Planète Urgence programme operates, in partnership with several grassroots community organisations, where they focus on the enrichment of the tapias forest, an endemic tree from Madagascar.
The restoration of this forest goes beyond a purely environmental aspect, it also allows the villagers to find resources that naturally grow in the forest such as fruits, medicinal plants, mushrooms and even silkworms – which is generating a booming farming business. Equally important to growing tapias trees are trees planted to meet some of the basic needs including the need for fuel (eucalyptus, acacias trees) and fruit trees to increase the incomes of local farmers. Fabris was excited to see the result of this action in the field:
“I’ve heard about the operation “a move = a planted tree” when I first started at the company. I thought it was good, but it seemed virtual to me. After witnessing the work completed by Planète Urgence I can testify that there are many trees in nurseries and trees planted, and this operation has a real positive impact on the environment and on the people who live in this region.”
Presentation to the French-Malagasy Chamber of Commerce
Later that day, Planète Urgence was invited to present their operations to the member companies of the French-Malagasy Chamber of Commerce (CCIFM), to encourage them to become involved in the financing of the association’s work locally. The presence of the AGS Madagascar Manager was welcomed and Fabris accompanied them on this mission. Fabris presented to 25 company representatives and talked about the MOBILITAS Group’s involvement in this environmental cause and the concrete evidence he had discovered during his visit.
The Planète Urgence project in a few figures
Planète Urgence planted 7,458,847 trees worldwide between 2007 and 2017, including 1,821,609 in Madagascar. MOBILITAS has contributed to the planting of 220,000 trees since its commitment in 2009, including 71,900 in Madagascar.
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