FedEx is investing in environmental protection in China, including helping to save the habitatof the giant panda, in cooperation with Conservation International (CI).
FedEx will donate US$600,000 to CI to run ten community conservation projects in China’s SichuanProvince that will assist in the survival of one of the region’s most well-known natives – thegiant panda. Together, FedEx and CI will support reforestation in Sichuan Province, which wasseverely impacted by a major earthquake in 2008, and raise environmental awareness through programsdesigned to empower FedEx employees to share the importance of a balanced ecosystem with theircommunity.
“This alliance with Conservation International demonstrates not only a shared ideology betweenour respective organisations for the sustainability of our planet, but also our collectivecommitment to help in the rebuilding efforts of the affected region,” said David L. Cunningham,Jr., president, Asia Pacific, FedEx Express. “I am proud that FedEx employees will play an activerole in the environmental awareness program to educate and convey conservation issues important tothe communities where we operate.”
FedEx supports CI’s work in ten community conservation projects that will reforest areas thatwere destroyed by the May 2008 earthquake in Sichuan Province. The 8.0-magnitude earthquake tookover 69,000 lives and caused $124 billion in damage, including destruction of panda habitat. Thereforestation effort will primarily involve planting of native plant species such as bamboo, whichwill restore and protect the panda’s habitat as well as provide the animal’s primary foodsource. With fewer than 1,600 left in the wild, the giant panda is one of the most threatenedspecies on the planet. The FedEx funding will also sequester carbon, benefit fragilelocal economies and protect the valuable Yangtze River watershed that supplies one half of China’sagricultural production, including two-thirds of China’s rice.
CI will work with local communities to have their forestry projects certified according to theClimate, Community and Biodiversity (CCB) Standards, which will ensure that each project hasdeveloped forest protection and restoration activities that deliver significant climate, localcommunity and biodiversity benefits. Restoration activities include training sessions given by CI,the forestry departments of Sichuan province, Pingwu county government officials and other forestryexperts. By sharing their experiences, the forestry experts will teach local project implementershow to set up sustainable livelihoods like ecotourism and honey production that will bring inadditional income to the local communities and lessen dependence on timber products provided by theforest.
“FedEx support of these important projects in China enables CI and its partners on the ground tocontinue efforts to conserve important native forests as well as to help save the Giant Panda,”said Justin Ward, Vice President of Business Practices at Conservation International. “We are alsopleased to provide support to the FedEx employee environmental outreach program that will assist incarrying the message to communities in China about the importance of conservation.”
The employee environmental outreach program was developed by CI for FedEx so that employeescan share knowledge about the environment in their communities. CI will train employees togive two presentations – one on ecosystems and the other on the forest area that makes up the pandahabitat. The training will help employees and in turn their communities understand howreforestation efforts are helping to lower global carbon emissions and leading to more sustainableforestry practices.
