BACKGROUND

Climate Change is the new reality in our lives. Natural disasters dominate headlines both locally and globally, with a growing awareness that our beautiful planet is fragile and that we’re testing her limits. In addition, we’re reminded daily of how poorly we treat our home; driving species to extinction, polluting rivers and seas; and unsustainably using the resources that sustain us.

It is against this background that WILDLANDS Pioneer New Pro-poor Development has implemented an approach that is set to make a sustainable difference.

WILDLANDS has networks in 60 communities across KwaZulu-Natal, Western, Northern and Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga and Gauteng. The aim is to transform the lives of thousands of South Africans and improve their livelihoods through various innovative sustainable programmes.

These programmes enable small business development, food security, conservation, recycling and restoration efforts, and offer a variety of experiential learning opportunities that provide tangible ways to activate sustainability with a focus on education, training and ambassadorship.

Unilever’s partnership with WILDLANDS began more than 18 years ago. The WILDLANDS Trees for Life Programme was born out of a field visit with Unilever volunteers in 2004, and the Recycling for Life programme was catalysed by Unilever in 2010.

Through these programmes, community “waste-preneurs” and “tree-preneurs” collect waste and grow indigenous trees and barter these for livelihoods items which includes Unilever products.

Three years ago, through WILDLANDS, Unilever committed to support these programmes and to planting 1 000 000 trees in South Africa

RESULTS

To date, Unilever has planted 840 0000 trees and will be planting their 1 millionth tree in September 2017. Unilever has also supported 2 412 Waste-preneurs in collecting 9 831 746kgs of waste material for recycling. Unilever has converted 40 000kgs of mutli-layer waste into 1 000 school desks, which have been distributed to schools in SA through the Omo School Desk Programme, and have created 50 jobs through their micro-enterprise arm of the partnership.